The simmering conflict over Subnautica 2 has taken another sharp turn, with publisher Krafton issuing a pointed rebuttal to the lawsuit filed by the game’s former leadership. In its latest court filing, Krafton reiterated its claim that key figures at developer Unknown Worlds including studio co-founder Charlie Cleveland and technical director Max McGuire had effectively walked away from the project.

According to the company, by early 2025 the sequel was nowhere near the condition promised when it was announced for Early Access the previous year. Krafton says internal reviews revealed that only around twelve percent of the intended content was complete by March, forcing a rethink of the release schedule. The publisher argues that without intervention, the game risked suffering the same sort of damaging launch that had plagued other high-profile sequels, citing Kerbal Space Program 2 as a cautionary example.

In Krafton’s telling, the leadership team’s focus had drifted. Cleveland and McGuire were said to be investing time in unrelated creative ventures including film work and side projects while production lead Ted Gill was allegedly more concerned with meeting the terms of his earnout agreement than managing development milestones. When asked to return to a more hands-on role, Krafton claims, they refused.

The accused developers paint a very different picture. In their lawsuit, they argue that Subnautica 2 was on track for its planned Early Access debut in 2025, and that Krafton deliberately slowed the schedule to avoid triggering a $250 million bonus payout tied to early launch and revenue targets. They say marketing support was withdrawn, localization work was stalled, and internal publishing assistance was withheld. Their complaint describes these moves as part of a coordinated effort to remove them from leadership and strip them of the financial rewards they had earned.

Publicly, Cleveland has rejected the idea that he “abandoned” anything. He insists that he has “never willingly walked away” from Subnautica, pointing to a long-standing commitment to profit-sharing with the team and to maintaining the creative vision that helped the original game find a global audience.

Krafton replaced the trio in July, bringing in The Callisto Protocol producer Steve Papoutsis to lead the project. Alongside that change, the company pushed Subnautica 2’s early access release window into 2026, citing the need for more content and polish. The decision has drawn heavy criticism from parts of the game’s community, with some fans calling for boycotts and accusing Krafton of putting corporate interests ahead of player trust.

In a small concession to the uproar, Krafton has extended the earnout eligibility period for the bonus to the end of 2026. Whether that will ease tensions remains to be seen. For now, the dispute is moving from public statements into the courtroom, where both sides appear ready to defend their version of events in full.

If the case proceeds to trial, it could set an industry precedent for how creative leadership is treated after a studio acquisition and whether contractual earnouts encourage long-term commitment or spark bitter break-ups.