Subnautica director and Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland recently announced on Twitter that he is taking legal action against publisher Krafton. This comes after the recent management changes and delay announcement for Subnautica 2’s early access release. The announcement also comes after Krafton’s official response that claims that of the $500 million it had spent on the studio’s acquisition, $250 million was set aside as earn-out compensation, 90 percent of which was meant to go to the three co-founders of the studio. However, in his statement, Cleveland claims this is “totally untrue”. According to a recent report by Bloomberg, Krafton allegedly delayed the game’s early access before the studio could receive a $250 million payout as part of its agreement.
Hello everyone,
It continues to be an explosive and surreal time for the Subnautica team and community. None of this is what we wanted. But we truly appreciate the amazing support we’ve gotten from everyone. It means a lot to us, especially now.
As I wrote last week, we know in…
— Charlie Cleveland (@Flayra) July 11, 2025
The full message from Cleveland:
Hello everyone,
It continues to be an explosive and surreal time for the Subnautica team and community. None of this is what we wanted. But we truly appreciate the amazing support we’ve gotten from everyone. It means a lot to us, especially now.
As I wrote last week, we know in our souls that the game is ready for Early Access – that’s just how we roll. And we’d like nothing more than for you to play it (game devs live for this). But it’s not currently under our control.
We’ve now filed a lawsuit against Krafton: the details should eventually become (at least mostly) public – you all deserve the full story. Suing a multi-billion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list. But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it.
As for the earnout, the idea that Max, Ted and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue. I’m in this industry because I love it, not for riches. Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team and did the same when we sold the studio. You can be damned sure we’ll continue with the earnout/bonus as well. They deserve it for all their incredible work trying to get this great game into your hands.
Stay tuned.
-Charlie
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