Subnautica 2 devs have more legal beef with publisher Krafton over the game's Early Access release — "Krafton self-servingly announced the launch"

I thought we might've been nearing the end of the legal battle going on between the executive leadership of Subnautica 2 dev Unknown Worlds and its publisher Krafton earlier this week when a decisive ruling came down in favor of the franchise's founders, but as it turns out, there's an entirely new fight brewing.

So, what's going on? First, a quick recap: last year, Subnautica's founders sued Krafton for firing them, replacing Unknown Worlds' CEO, and delaying the underwater survival-horror sequel into 2026 even though they believed it was ready for its Early Access release on Xbox, PC, and Xbox Game Pass, with speculation that this was done to dodge having to pay the developers a $250 million bonus for hitting certain performance targets by the end of 2025.

Krafton argued the game needed the delay and that Unknown Worlds' leadership was negligent in their development duties, but a judge ultimately ruled in favor of the series' creators on Monday. Krafton was ordered to extend the bonus' deadline to September 15, 2026, reinstate Ted Gill as CEO, and give him full control of Subnautica 2's Early Access release.

There's still a "phase two" to assess potential financial compensation for the fired executives, but overall, things seemed to mostly be over. But then IGN reported the exiting Krafton-backed CEO Steve Papoutsis wrote an internal memo stating that Subnautica 2 "is ready for Early Access release in May," which Gill's lawyers took issue with in a letter sent to judge Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will.

As reported by Stephen Totilo of Game File, they argue that "Krafton self-servingly announced the launch without any regard to its impact on the game, the team, or the community," and that the memo was "intentionally leaked." Gill was supposed to announce Subnautica 2's release date — his lawyers say these reveals are "carefully designed to maximize excitement for the game" — so the release of this memo is "further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community."

Krafton's lawyers shot back in defense of the company and Papoutsis with their own letter, stating that the latter was "simply celebrating the UW employees’ efforts toward a past event: Krafton’s pre-Opinion determination that Subnautica 2 was ready for Early Access release." They argue "There was nothing improper about conveying the results of the milestone review or thanking the development team for their dedication and talent."

They also went on to comment that "nothing in Papoutsis’s message alters Gill’s authority or discretion," and that he's been given full control of the game's release in compliance with the original court order.

Now, Gill's legal team has filed a motion to see Krafton penalized for what it believes was disobeying a court order, stating that "Krafton’s actions have undermined the relief sought in this expedited phase of the litigation," and that the May release date was decided before Gill could review the state of Subnautica 2.

Krafton's, meanwhile, is arguing that Will's order was not in effect when it was announced on Monday morning, and shouldn't be considered active until a formal "implementing order" is completed.

There have been no rulings about these new disputes yet, but a few things are clear: there's a strong chance Subnautica 2 isn't coming out in May after all, and the battle between Unknown Worlds' leaders and Krafton isn't ending any time soon.

🗨️ Who's in the right?

Honestly, what a headache. The fight between Unknown Worlds' executives and Krafton remains ongoing, this time over a leaked internal memo that suggested the publisher picked a release date for the game before Ted Gill could make the call himself.

I asked earlier this week, and I'll ask again: who do you believe is in the right, here? Let me know what you think in the comments, and vote in our poll:

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