The messy story of Subnautica 2’s development and delay got a whole lot messier today, deepening the plot about the highly anticipated sequel’s delayed early access launch.
Last summer, publisher Krafton placed the blame for Subnautica 2’s delay on three former executives at developer Unknown Worlds, amid reports that the game was actually pushed to avoid paying them $250 million in bonuses, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.
The latest development, picked up by VGC, is that a judge in Delaware has ruled that Krafton must reinstate former Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, who was fired by the company last year, along with former founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire.
To make matters even juicier, the judge also made an accusation that Krafton’s own CEO “turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earnout,” remarking that “ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earnout.'”
That strategy, apparently, was to place blame on Gill and other executives who Krafton said “abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them” alongside Subnautica 2’s development. Now, the recent court ruling claims that “Krafton went searching for a pretext” to avoid a “nine-figure liability.”
“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 said in a statement last July.
Basically, Subnautica 2 devs said the game is ready for early access, but the game was delayed because Krafton said and felt otherwise, apparently. But now all of this is being called into question, and it may be due to the publisher attempting to avoid its payment responsibilities.
Subnautica 2 is currently the most wishlisted game on Steam, ahead of titles like Deadlock, Light No Fire, Crimson Desert, and Forza Horizon 6. It’s unclear what this latest wrinkle means for the undersea exploration game, but the sloppiness behind the scenes just keeps getting sloppier. Hopefully, with Gill back at the reins, the game could be closer to release than ever.
Update on March 17, 2026, at 8:15am CT: A Krafton representative has reached out to Destructoid with this statement:
“KRAFTON puts players at the heart of every decision, and that will never change. Over the past several months, KRAFTON and the Unknown Worlds team have worked tirelessly to strengthen the game and prepare it for an Early Access release, with a continued focus on delivering the best possible experience for the Subnautica community. We look forward to pushing out the newly updated version as soon as possible for players.
While we respectfully disagree with today’s ruling, we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward. Today’s ruling does not resolve the former executives’ claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation still pending. In the meantime, KRAFTON’s immediate focus remains unchanged: delivering the best possible game to Subnautica’s fans.”
