KRAFTON, the parent company of Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds, has fired back in the ongoing legal battle with the studio’s co-founders, accusing them of abandoning their posts and harming the game’s development.
In its August 12, 2025 court filing, KRAFTON claims that co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire effectively walked away from their roles as studio-wide game director and technical director as early as July 2023, leaving the Subnautica 2 team struggling.
This comes after Cleveland, McGuire, and fellow co-founder Ted Gill sued KRAFTON over their firings and the delay of Subnautica 2 from 2025 to 2026. The lawsuit alleges wrongful termination, while KRAFTON insists the founders stopped contributing to the game well before their dismissals.
According to KRAFTON, after acquiring Unknown Worlds, Cleveland and McGuire took their payout and lost interest in Subnautica 2, focusing instead on personal projects-Cleveland allegedly shifting toward filmmaking-while Gill concentrated on maximizing his earnout instead of game development. The filing also cites a comment from the game’s development lead, who said the early access version was just 12% of the planned 1.0 content and joked it could take “30 years” to finish at the current pace.
KRAFTON further asserts that the co-founders refused offers to return to their leadership roles, with Gill reportedly remarking, “there’s no coming back to a job they didn’t have.” Cleveland himself is quoted as saying the sequel was intended to be led by a younger generation of developers from the outset, and that he never planned to run the team.
With both sides trading serious accusations, the dispute is set to play out over months-or even years-in court. Until a verdict is reached, the truth behind these claims remains murky, but the case has already cast a shadow over one of indie gaming’s most anticipated sequels.