Subnautica 2’sdelay out of 2025 was due to three Unknown Worlds executives who “abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them,” publisher Krafton claimed in a scathing statement today.
In response to aJuly 9 Bloomberg reportthat the undersea exploration game was delayed to avoid paying a bonus to devs, the publisher said that it “deeply valuesSubnautica’sunique creativity and immersive world-building” and so it acquired developer Unknown Worlds “to provide fans with even better gaming experiences…fully committed to supportingSubnautica’sfuture success.”
But after the original game’s 2018 launch, some facets of its sequel’s development have sunk, and blame is being thrown. In addition to the studio’s $500 million purchase price, Krafton said that it “allocated approximately 90 percent of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to the three former executives, with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development ofSubnautica 2.” That’s $225 million.
The hotly anticipated sequel, currently the third most-wishlisted game on Steam, was originally supposed to launch into early access last year, but Krafton is blaming the studio’s higher-ups. The publisher said that it “made multiple requests to Charlie and Max to resume their roles as Game Director and Technical Director, respectively, but both declined to do so.”
Krafton said that it “believes that the absence of core leadership has resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule,” and the current early access version of the game “falls short in terms of content volume” because of it.
“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.
Subnautica 2is now scheduled to release in early access sometime in 2026, but now even that is looking tenuous. Krafton, though, said that it’s “committed to fair and equitable compensation for all remaining Unknown Worlds employees who have continuously and tirelessly contributed toSubnautica 2’sdevelopment.”
Basically, Krafton is saying the game is not ready for early access, but the former devs are saying it is. Whoever or whatever is truly at fault for the game’s delay, whether it be the publisher or the studio’s former heads or something else entirely, potential players will have to wait quite a bit longer to play the game they’ve been looking forward to.
