Over the past week, Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton have been embroiled in some pretty intense drama, following the removal of co-founders Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire. At the time, not much information was known about why the trio were let go, which led to a lot of speculation online.
Yesterday, before Subnautica 2's official delay into 2026, a new report from Bloomberg claimed that Krafton had chosen to delay the title just months before it was due to pay Unknown Worlds a $250 million bonus as part of its acquisition agreement in 2021. It was never claimed that this was the sole reason for the delay, but co-founder Charlie Cleveland's comment that Subnautica 2 was "ready" for Early Access stirred the pot some more.
Krafton eventually came out and stated that the bonus payout was not the reason for the delay, and in a statement sent to TheGamer, it has now gone into more detail surrounding the reasons behind the game's delay and leadership struggles. In the statement, Krafton claims that Gill, Cleveland, and McGuire were removed as they "abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them".
Review bombings, boycotts, and angry emails...
