Former Subnautica 2 Leadership Alleges Krafton Delayed the Game to Avoid Paying $250M Bonus
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- The former leadership of the Subnautica 2 studio, Unknown Worlds, alleges that Krafton is delaying the game deliberately.
- They claim that the main reason for this is to avoid paying the $250-million bonus.
- Some Unknown Worlds developers and other developers from other studios claim that the game is ready for early access.
On July 17, 2025, Bloomberg published a report revealing that the former leadership of Subnautica 2 studio, Unknown Worlds, intentionally delayed the game’s release to sidestep a massive performance-based payout worth up to $250 million.
Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire allege that the relationship between the studio and Krafton has soured after Gill negotiated with Krafton about paying bonuses to people who aren’t eligible for the payout. According to Bloomberg’s report, 40 people were eligible at the time the studio was acquired, but the executives also wanted to include those who had joined later.
Additionally, the former leadership’s lawsuit alleges that after Krafton had reviewed Gill’s revenue projections and earnout numbers, the relationship between the two changed to the point where Krafton was suggesting the game be delayed.
Bloomberg reports that during one lunch meeting, Krafton CEO Changhan Kim told Cleveland that releasing Subnautica 2 in 2025 “could be disastrous financially and hugely embarrassing.” According to Krafton, this comment was mistranslated.
One point where Krafton and the former Subnautica 2 leadership disagree is about whether the game is ready for early access or not. Krafton insists that the game is not ready to be released, but the leadership says it’s ready.
Bloomberg mentioned that the Unknown Worlds developers they talked to consider the game to be in good shape. Some outside sources also corroborated this comment, but Bloomberg said they refused to be identified. Another one the outlet talked to mentioned that the game “seemed way more robust” compared to other games in early access.
Unknown Worlds leadership was changed earlier this month, when Krafton suddenly fired Gill, Cleveland and McGuire. Steve Papoutsis was put in as the new CEO of the studio. Shortly after, Cleveland published a post speaking up about his experience of not being able to work in the company that he established.
