Krafton has issued a statement regarding leadership changes at Unknown Worlds implemented last week, claiming the developer’s former executives “abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them”.

Posted on Krafton’s homepage, the publisher said “the absence of core leadership resulted in repeated confusion in direction” leading to the decision to delay the release of Subnautica 2 to 2026.

“Subnautica 2 was originally planned for an early access launch in early 2024, but the timeline has since been significantly delayed,” it wrote.

“Krafton made multiple requests to Charlie [Cleveland] and Max [McGuire] to resume their roles as game director and technical director, respectively, but both declined to do so.

“In particular, following the failure of Moonbreaker, Krafton asked Charlie to devote himself to the development of Subnautica 2. However, instead of participating in the game development, he chose to focus on a personal film project.”

The firm continued: “Krafton believes that the absence of core leadership resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule. We are deeply disappointed by the former leadership’s conduct, and above all, we feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honour the trust placed in them by our fans.

“To uphold our commitment to provide you with the best possible gaming experience, we made the difficult yet necessary decision to change the executive leadership.”

Krafton also addressed a $250 million earn-out detailed in the purchase agreement reviewed by Bloomberg. The publication claimed the former leadership team planned to share this sum with its employees.

“In addition to the initial $500 million purchase price, we allocated approximately 90% of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to the three former executives, with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2.”

“Krafton has committed to fair and equitable compensation for all remaining Unknown World employees who have continuously and tirelessly contributed to Subnautica 2’s development. We believe that the dedication and effort of this team are at the very heart of Subnautica’s ongoing evolution, and we reaffirm our commitment to provide the rewards they were promised.”

In response, former game director and Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland confirmed a lawsuit has been filed against Krafton.

Sharing a post on the Subnautica subreddit, Cleveland described the ongoing situation as an “explosive and surreal time”, and that “none of this is what we wanted”.

He also reiterated that Subnautica 2 is ready for early access despite Krafton delaying the game to next year.

“We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public – you all deserve the full story,” he wrote.

“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 added: “As for the earnout, the idea that Max, Ted [Gill] and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue. I’m in this industry because I love it, not for the 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.”