Krafton claims Subnautica 2's delay to 2026 was not influenced by financial considerations

The sequel to the 2018 action-adventure underwater survival game, Subnautica 2, has officially been delayed to 2026. The publisher, Krafton, maintains that the decision to delay the game wasn’t influenced by contractual or financial considerations, even as details continue to emerge about a $250 million payout that would have potentially been in play for developers, Unknown Worlds, if it met certain performance metrics.

The incident unfolded last week when Krafton removed the three founders of Unknown Worlds Entertainment from their respective positions. Original I Director, Charlie Cleveland, CEO Ted Gill, and co-founder Max Guire were removed from the company they had founded in 2001. In their stead, Krafton hired Steve Papoutsis of studio Striking Distance as the new CEO of Unknown Worlds.

According to Bloomberg, the timing of this move seems suspicious given the financial stakes involved. Krafton had previously promised Unknown Worlds a provisional signing bonus of $250 million, which would be distributed among all studio employees if certain revenue milestones were met by the end of 2025. This was a package that was particularly top-heavy, offering a large segment of the bonuses to all 3 executives removed if it was honored. 

Considering Subnautica 2 has effectively been delayed to 2026, it's unlikely that Unknown Worlds will achieve the revenue milestone, pretty much denying the team their potential quarter-billion dollar payout.

Charlie Cleveland spoke out after being dismissed and contradicted Krafton’s side of the story,” We know that the game is ready for early access release, and we know you’re ready to play it. And while we thought this was going to be our decision to make, at least for now, that decision is in Krafton’s hands. And after all these years, to find that I’m no longer able to work at the company I started things.”

On the other end of the spectrum however, the new CEO, Steve Papoutsis informed employees that Krafton didn’t believe Subnautica 2 was ready for early access release and claimed not to know about the bonus contract: “It’s never been told to me that we’re making this change specifically to impact any earnout or anything like that.”

Subnautica 1 was released in early access in 2014 before its full release in 2018. The game sold over 6 million copies and established itself as one of the most successful survival indie titles of all time.

It’s uncertain if Subnautica 2’s delayed release is justified, but the circumstances surrounding the controversy have already eroded trust between Krafton, Unknown Worlds, and the Subnautica fanbase.