Krafton responds to Subnautica founders’ lawsuit: ‘We look forward to defending ourselves in court’
The publisher again claims Subnautica 2 was delayed for quality reasons, amid accusations of obstruction to avoid an earn-out
Publisher Krafton has responded to a lawsuit filed by former Subnautica leads, stating that it “look[s] forward to defending ourselves in court”.
Details on the case against Krafton by the three fired Unknown Worlds executives were revealed this week, after documents related to their legal action were published.
CEO Ted Gill, co-founder and creative director Charlie Cleveland, and co-founder and technical director Max McGuire were fired by Krafton earlier this month, and accuse the publisher of obstructing the 2025 release plan for Subnautica 2 in order to avoid paying a $250 million earnout.
In its latest statement, Krafton reiterated that its decision to delay Subnautica 2 to 2026 was based on the quality of the game.
“Krafton’s decisions were made to ensure Subnautica 2 is the best possible game and lives up to fan expectations,” a spokesperson told VGC.
“Releasing the game prematurely with insufficient content, falling short of what fans expect in a sequel, would have both disappointed the players — who are at the heart of everything Krafton does — and damaged the reputations of both the Subnautica and Unknown Worlds brands.
“While we are disappointed that Charlie, Max, and Ted have filed a lawsuit seeking a huge payout, we look forward to defending ourselves in court. In the meantime, Krafton remains focused on what matters: delivering the best possible game as quickly as possible to Subnautica’s fans.”
In a previous statement, Krafton denied that its decision to fire the Unknown Worlds trio was influenced by “any contractual or financial considerations”.
According to documents published this week, the former execs’ lawsuit alleges that Krafton implemented “delay tactics” by pulling all support for the launch of Subnautica 2 in an “orchestrated effort aimed to delay the game and thereby harm the earnout”.
“Krafton apparently thought it could fire the Founders and delay the game without harming the franchise – thereby making money for itself, while avoiding any earnout obligations. But the community’s reaction shows that Krafton has already caused immeasurable damage to Subnautica 2.”
