KRAFTON says former Subnautica 2 leadership “abandoned” duties

KRAFTON has released a remarkably blunt statement explaining the reasons behind the recent leadership change at Unknown Worlds, the developer of Subnautica 2, and the game’s delay.

A report had suggested that KRAFTON delayed Subnautica 2 to avoid paying the studio a $250 million USD bonus and fired its original leadership due to its opposition to moving the launch.

The South Korean publisher denied this and accused the former leadership of shirking its duties: “Regrettably, the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them. Subnautica 2 was originally planned for an Early Access launch in early 2024, but the timeline has since been significantly delayed. KRAFTON made multiple requests to Charlie and Max 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.”

Said movie is a Christmas comedy called Nutmeg & Mistletoe, which proudly proclaims using AI to create its poster. Charlie Cleveland said on social media that Subnautica 2 was ready for its Early Access launch, so the two statements directly clash with each other in this regard.

The statement continued: “KRAFTON believes that the absence of core leadership has resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule. The current Early Access version also falls short in terms of content volume. We are deeply disappointed by the former leadership’s conduct, and above all, we feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans.”

KRAFTON also committed to honoring its promises in regards to bonus payments for the rest of the development team, which numbers around 100 people. 90% of the promised $250m bonus was earmarked for the three former leaders of the company, but the rest was supposed to go to everyone else — and might still do so, according to the company: “KRAFTON has committed to fair and equitable compensation for all remaining Unknown Worlds 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.”

KRAFTON didn’t provide any further details, however. Meanwhile, Cleveland and fellow ex-Unknown Worlds leaders Max McGuire and Ted Gill have announced plans to file a lawsuit against KRAFTON, which means that this saga might get uglier yet.

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