Overview

• Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill and Max McGuire filed a breach of contract suit on July 16 in Delaware Chancery Court, claiming Krafton intentionally stalled Subnautica 2’s early access launch to avoid triggering a $250 million earnout.
• In early July, Krafton replaced Unknown Worlds’ executive team with Steve Papoutsis and pushed the sequel’s planned 2025 release into early access 2026, citing concerns over leadership and game readiness.
• Bloomberg reporting confirms Krafton has moved earnout targets to the end of 2026 and will advance a portion of profit-sharing bonuses to about 40 remaining developers.
• The lawsuit cites leaked May milestone reviews and alleged publisher actions—such as pulling marketing assets and halting prelaunch support—as part of a months-long effort to frustrate the earnout.
• In a July 17 statement, Krafton reaffirmed its “fan-centric mindset” and pledged to uphold community trust despite the legal dispute with its former leadership team.