‘Subnautica 2’ Release Delayed By Krafton To Prevent $250 Million Payout To Unknown Worlds, Triggers Boycott By Fandom

Fans who have been eagerly following Subnautica 2 news will know very well by now that big news have been happening at Unknown World Entertainment. Unfortunately, it’s not good news. A week ago, Krafton fired three of Unknown Worlds’ key leadership, including their CEO, head developer, and co-founder of the company. Krafton gave absolutely no reason for their firing in their press release, which understandably raised tensions and concerns among the fandom beyond what you would expect from such a massive shakeup. The remaining dev team have released their own letter to the community to assuage those concerns. Thus, raising a small amount of hope among the fandom.

And then suddenly, they dropped a gameplay trailer for Subnautica 2.

Subnautica 2 Gameplay Reveal Teaser (Bombing)

Normally, the reveal of an actual gameplay trailer for Subnautica 2 would be amazingly good news. We see so much content in this one trailer. From looks at various seemingly complete biomes full of undersea critters, to look at new gameplay mechanics including new vehicles and a more complex base-building system, to working demonstrations of the new optional coop, this trailer has everything you could ever want from a trailer. Everything about it is designed to make you extra hyped-up about its impending Early Access release.

And then you reach the end and see that Subnautica 2‘s release has been delayed to 2026.

Now this would be bad news even in normal circumstances. You can tell by just how many dislikes the video is accruing on YouTube. However, it gets worse the more you learn about why Krafton is delaying Subnautica 2‘s release, especially since the reasons appear to be entirely due to short-sighted financial reasons on Krafton’s part.

Krafton Delaying Release to Prevent $250 Million Payout to Unknown Worlds

Alas, that gameplay trailer came hot on the heels of an article from Bloomberg (and subsequently reported by PC Gamer) about this whole mess. According to the original story: Krafton’s original purchase contract with Unknown Worlds Entertainment included a clause in which Krafton would pay $250 million to Unknown Worlds as a bonus for meeting “specific revenue targets” by the end of 2025. This bonus would’ve been paid out to the entire studio. Some of those payouts were reportedly in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars for some.

By delaying the release of Subnautica 2 to 2026, Krafton is ensuring that Unknown Worlds cannot meet those revenue targets. All because Unknown Worlds hinged on Subnautica 2 being the game to bring them to those targets, and in fact, the game is ready for Early Access at this time according to ex-developer Charlie Cleveland in his Reddit post “What is a Wave but a Thousand Drops”. In effect, this whole deal is a scummy way for Krafton to have an excuse to not fulfill their contract by sabotaging the game’s development.

Krafton Replies with Denials…

Immediately following the release of the revelation of that delay, new CEO of Unknown Worlds (and still-current CEO of Striking Distance Studios) Steve Papoutsis held a town hall with the dev team at Unknown Worlds. The first thing Papoutsis did at that town hall was contradict Charlie Cleveland and insist that Subnautica 2 is not ready for Early Access, and that development is being held back to add more content.

However, when asked during that town hall whether the delay was made so Krafton could avoid paying the bonus, Papoutsis’s reply was that he didn’t know anything about the details regarding Krafton’s acquiring of Unknown Worlds and added that “it’s never been told to me that we’re making this change specifically to impact any earnout or anything like that”.

Now, this is very suspicious and concerning behavior on its own. But then Krafton adds even more fuel to the fire by releasing their own statement clarifying matters.

And by clarifying, I mean slandering the devs they fired to hell and back.

…and Libel?

Krafton has just posted a statement on their official website in reply to the developing outrage at them. That statement is partially in an attempt to appease the Subnautica fandom. However, a large portion of the statement appears to be aimed at slandering Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire. In the statement, Krafton accuses the former developers of “Inevitable Leadership Change Driven by Project Abandoment – Despite Holding 90% of Earnings for Themselves”.

Furthermore, they claim that Subnautica 2 was in fact delayed from an original release window of early 2024 because of their refusal. And bizarrely, they even claim that the head developer himself refused to participate in the development of the game in order to work on a “personal film project” that they do not specify.

And thus, because of these claimed crimes, Krafton “are deeply disappointed by the former leadership’s conduct. and above all, [they] feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans”. Which basically sums it all up as Krafton using all of these accusations to justify firing Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire.

Wow, something smells fishy here.

Speculation: If the Fish Stinks, Something is Rotten

Now, this is all pure speculation based on the available evidence, so bear with me here. I am 100% convinced that Krafton is making all of this up in a poor attempt to hide their own scummy business practices.

If Krafton actually had evidence of Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire engaging in the misconduct they’re accusing them of, they would be taking the ex-devs to court over it. But no, they’re not doing that. Instead, they’re publicly slandering the ex-devs in a public statement. All seemingly in a post hoc justification of the ex-devs’ surprise firing. A firing that in Cleveland’s own words: was “quite a shock” to him and his fellow devs.

The implication is that Krafton is engaging in libel because they know their case won’t hold up in a court of law. Which is quite fitting because Unknown Worlds is a UK company, and libel is a thing one can sue over for there. Now, a UK company suing a South Korean company makes things slightly complicated, but that’s something for the international courts to figure out.

Exhibit A: Subnautica 2 Gameplay Teaser

So the balance of evidence here is that Krafton is in fact delaying the release of Subnautica 2 purely to prevent that $250 million payout from reaching Unknown Worlds. The proof? The gameplay trailer itself.

That gameplay trailer shows off a perfectly working game with more or less complete biomes, complex gameplay mechanics, and even the beginnings of a story. These are all things that are the minimum requirements for an Early Access release. Heck, if anything, they vastly exceed those requirements. Even the original Subnautica and later Subnautica: Below Zero had been in a much earlier development cycle when they had entered Early Access.

It’s quite ironic that the very trailer Krafton ordered Unknown Worlds to release also proves that Krafton is lying about the state of Subnautica 2.

What to do About Subnautica 2 Now?

The Subnautica fandom is already reacting to this news with outrage. There is already a call for a boycott of Subnautica 2 on the official Subnautica Reddit thread by Specialist-Target461. Admittedly, the game isn’t even out yet, so there’s nothing to not buy. However, there is still an option available: un-wishlisting the game on Steam.

The Power of the Steam Wishlist

At the time of this writing, Subnautica 2 is the second-most wishlisted game on Steam, with only Hollow Knight: Silksong beating it. This is what the fandom is seizing on. If large sections of the fandom un-wishlist the game and send it plummeting down the chart, this will hopefully send a message to Krafton about the community’s disapproval of their actions. It’s even very simple for you to do it. Just head to the game’s Steam page if you’ve wishlisted it, and just click the button against to un-wishlist it if you wish to participate in this boycott.

The other thing you can do is simply not buy Subnautica 2 when it does release. Krafton only seems to care about short-term financial gain. Well, if no one is buying the game they’re sabotaging, then it hits them where they hurt the most. Yes, it will also hurt Unknown World by extension. However, if Krafton is actively screwing them over, they’re not going to see the vast majority of that money to begin with. If a big company only understands money, then maybe a lack of it can convince them to change.

Maybe.

We can at least cross our fingers and hope that Krafton won’t just decide to take their $250 million and let it all burn. Although given that Krafton themselves confirm that there are “12 million fellow Subnauts”, let’s hope they’re not that dumb.

Source: YouTube, Bloomberg, PC Gamer, Reddit, Krafton, Reddit, Steam

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