Unknown Worlds Sues Former Subnautica 2 Leadership, Alleges “Ill-Devised Scheme”

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the studio behind Subnautica 2, has filed a lawsuit against co-founders Charles “Charlie” Cleveland, Adam “Max” McGuire and Edward “Ted” Gill, accusing them of scheming to exploit the $250 million revenue-based earnout from Krafton’s acquisition of the company.

The lawsuit called the three of them “Key Employees,” and further pushed Krafton’s allegations that they have abandoned their duties at the studio to focus on other endeavors. Additionally, the studio also alleges that the key employees have “downloaded substantial volumes of Company Confidential Information on their way out the door.”

In regard to scheming, the lawsuit alleged that the key employees had concocted a plan to push the release of Subnautica 2 before the earnout period expired, ultimately only serving their self-interest, as it also mentioned that the game is nowhere near release quality. “The Key Employees realized that the pre-order demand and franchise value of Subnautica 2 presented their best opportunity to spike short-term sales, even if it meant harming the franchise long term,” said the lawsuit.

The studio, in their complaint, clarifies that the lawsuit was filed in order to “recover damages for the injuries caused by the Key Employees’ abandonment and breach of their fiduciary duties to the Company, to put Krafton and Unknown Worlds in the position they would be in if the Key Employees had not breached their contractual obligations, and to recover and protect the Company’s confidential and proprietary information.”

This recent complaint from Unknown Worlds is part of an ongoing battle between the co-founders of the studios and Krafton. The first lawsuit came from Cleveland, McGuire and Gill, where they alleged that Krafton is delaying Subnautica 2’s release to skip out on paying the $250 million earn-out compensation.