Subnautica 2 leadership replaced by Krafton ahead of early access release

In a move that’s left fans stunned, publisher Krafton has ousted the entire founding leadership team behind the Subnautica series from Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Effective immediately, co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, along with CEO Ted Gill, have been replaced by Steve Papoutsis, former head of Striking Distance Studios and a key figure behind The Callisto Protocol and Dead Space 2.

The announcement arrives just months before the anticipated early access release of Subnautica 2, raising concerns about the game's stability and direction. No concrete reasons were given for the leadership shakeup, though Krafton’s statement claims it “sought to keep” the original team involved.

“We appreciate Ted, Charlie, and Max for their past roles in building this beloved world,” Krafton said in its press release, while offering no specific explanation for the decision. “While Krafton sought to keep the Unknown Worlds’ co-founders and original creators of the Subnautica series involved in the game’s development, the company wishes them well on their next endeavors,” the statement says.

Steve Papoutsis will now take over as CEO of Unknown Worlds and lead the studio's creative direction. “Player experience is our North Star,” said Papoutsis in the statement. “The team is laser-focused on delivering the best possible game for the Subnautica community.”

What this means for Subnautica 2

Despite the upheaval, Krafton maintains that Subnautica 2 remains on track for a 2025 early access release on PC and Xbox Series X and S, including availability via Xbox Game Pass.

Meanwhile, fans are questioning how much of the original vision will remain intact without the founding team at the helm. In fact, the sudden move doesn’t seem to have gone down well with fans.

“Not to be dramatic, but this is probably the end of the franchise,” says one of the posts on the Subnautica subreddit. Comments on the post have echoed similar sentiments. “I wanted to play a game by the people that made Subnautica, and their leadership just got fired,” a comment read. “It does not inspire confidence. But real talk, they fired 3 top-level employees and replaced them with 1. The labor savings are what justified this in the eyes of the corporation,” another user wrote.

For now, Subnautica fans can only hope that the development team left behind retains enough continuity and autonomy to deliver the sequel they've been waiting for.