The scandal continues. The publisher wanted more content in the Early Access release, which led to major trouble…

The delay of Subnautica 2 was the primary reason for the conflict between former Unknown Worlds executives Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill, and Max McGuire, and Krafton, the company that acquired the studio in 2021. Two slides from an internal presentation from May this year show Krafton’s analysis of Subnautica 2’s development status. The first slide notes a lack of freshness and content expected from a sequel. The second slide lists five key features missing from the 2025 build compared to the 2023 early access launch spec: two fewer biomes, one less leviathan, a missing vehicle, a removed game mode, and a postponed narrative, amounting to about six hours of cut content.

“Compared to the originally planned Early Access launch specifications, the current target content volume has been reduced or adjusted across various elements, such as biomes, creatures, equipment/progression, and features. Due to a discrepancy between the current state and the assumed content volume during initial launch planning, reassessing the release timeline and roadmap is necessary. The document circulating on social media and reported by various outlets is indeed part of an internal milestone review for the Subnautica 2 project. Milestone reviews are conducted regularly in collaboration with Krafton’s creative studios across all projects. These reviews help assess development progress, define clear objectives, and ensure that each project aligns with Krafton’s standards of creativity and quality.”

It seems clear that the delay and firing of Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire was not simply to avoid paying the studio’s promised $250 million bonus. In a now-deleted Reddit post calling for a Subnautica 2 boycott over the layoffs, the poster and some commenters speculated that the fired Unknown Worlds devs wanted more time with the game, but in fact the opposite is true: Krafton wanted to keep the original release date. Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland wrote last week that they know the game is ready for early access and they’re ready for launch.

However, Krafton’s internal development metrics are not set in stone. It’s possible that what Krafton saw as a lack of progress was actually a reasonable revision by Unknown Worlds, and these adjustments could have been made up during the early access period. Without further comment from Unknown Worlds management or actual access to the game, we can’t know for sure. Things are getting increasingly ugly between Krafton and the ousted devs. The publisher took the unprecedented step of singling out Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire, claiming to feel deeply betrayed, arguing that they abandoned their responsibilities—especially accusing Cleveland of prioritizing a personal film project over Subnautica 2’s development.

Meanwhile, Cleveland stated that all three have filed a lawsuit against Krafton…

Source: PCGamer