Subnautica studio co-founder says he's suing parent company Krafton

The drama surrounding the significantly delayed release of Subnautica 2 continues with Charlie Cleveland, co-founder and former director of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, announcing via a post on X that he and unnamed others have filed a lawsuit against Krafton, the studio's parent company since 2021.

Cleveland, along with Ted Gill and Max McGuire, were relieved of their leadership roles at Unknown Worlds last week by Krafton. Bloomberg reported that they had been effectively "pushed out." This occurred shortly before Krafton would reportedly owe Unknown Worlds leadership a $250 million bonus for meeting certain goals.

The alleged lawsuit follows Krafton's recent statement accusing Cleveland and other studio leadership of "abandoning their responsibilities." The parent company claims these executives' behavior led to significant delays in Subnautica 2 's early access release, which is now slated for early 2026. Krafton also claimed that approximately 90 percent of the $250 million bonus was already paid out to Cleveland, Gill and McGuire.

In his post, Cleveland strongly refuted Krafton's claims, asserting that Subnautica 2 is in fact "ready for early access" and that any allegations regarding abdication of leadership and financial motivations are false. "Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it," Cleveland wrote.

He also firmly denied accusations that he and other executives intended to keep the promised $250 million bonus for themselves, saying, "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."

Details about the lawsuit, including the jurisdiction, named parties or specific causes of action remain unclear. Subnautica 2 is still slated for an early access launch sometime in 2026, though it remains to be seen if this new legal drama will cause further delays.

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