The Subnautica 2 saga gets nastier, with ousted leaders confirming they'll sue Krafton: 'It continues to be an explosive and surreal time'

The spat between recently fired Unknown Worlds founders and publisher Krafton has gotten messier, with a co-founder of the former, Charlie Cleveland, confirming on Reddit that a lawsuit has been filed against Krafton.

Cleveland's update follows a statement issued by Krafton earlier today. The publisher claimed that the former Subnautica 2 bosses—specifically Cleveland and fellow co-founder Max McGuire—had "abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them", namely, the development of Subnautica 2. It also claimed that the game's Early Access build, which was scheduled to release imminently, "falls short in terms of content volume".

"We are deeply disappointed by the former leadership's conduct," the statement read, "and above all, we feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans". The tone of this statement is ruthless, to say the least, and quite different to Krafton's initial missive, which maintained a vague corporate impassivity, while extending gratitude to the sacked leaders.

In his own statement, Cleveland repeats his claim that Subnautica 2 is ready for Early Access—which Krafton has denied—before confirming the lawsuit.

"We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public—you all deserve the full story. Suing a multi-billion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list. But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it."

Cleveland also addresses the elephant in the room: the $250 million bonus which was to be rewarded to Unknown Worlds upon reaching certain revenue milestones by the end of 2025, with 90 percent of that figure going to "the three former executives", according to Krafton. Previous rumors had suggested that the sackings and Subnautica 2's delay was a tactic on Krafton's part to avoid paying out this amount, but the publisher suggested in today's statement that "fair and equitable compensation" would be granted to remaining Unknown Worlds employees.

Cleveland writes that it was never the leadership's intention to keep the 90 percent. "As for the earnout," he writes, "the idea that Max, Ted and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue. I’m in this industry because I love it, not for riches. Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team and did the same when we sold the studio. You can be damned sure we’ll continue with the earnout/bonus as well. They deserve it for all their incredible work trying to get this great game into your hands."

The saga continues then, and it appears to be turning into a protracted one. Specific details of the lawsuit have yet to emerge, but Cleveland implies we'll be hearing more about that soon.

Here's his full statement:

Hello everyone,

It continues to be an explosive and surreal time for the Subnautica team and community. None of this is what we wanted. But we truly appreciate the amazing support we’ve gotten from everyone. It means a lot to us, especially now.

As I wrote last week, we know in our souls that the game is ready for Early Access - that’s just how we roll. And we’d like nothing more than for you to play it (game devs live for this). But it’s not currently under our control.

We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public - you all deserve the full story. Suing a multi-billion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list. But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it.

As for the earnout, the idea that Max, Ted and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue. I’m in this industry because I love it, not for riches. Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team and did the same when we sold the studio. You can be damned sure we’ll continue with the earnout/bonus as well. They deserve it for all their incredible work trying to get this great game into your hands.

Stay tuned.

-Charlie