The ongoing legal war between Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds and its parent company Krafton has intensified, with the studio’s recently reinstated CEO Ted Gill and co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire accusing the publisher of deliberately leaking an internal memo that revealed the game’s planned early access launch window. The dispute centers on a memo from studio head Steve Papoutsis — an executive installed by Krafton after the three leaders were ousted last year — which indicated that Subnautica 2 had been greenlit for an early access release in May.
According to a report from Rock Paper Shotgun, lawyers for the three founders filed a letter with Delaware’s Court of Chancery on Tuesday, just one day after Vice Chancellor Lori Will ordered Krafton to reinstate Gill as Unknown Worlds CEO and grant him authority over the game’s early access plans. The legal team argued that Krafton acted in defiance of the court’s ruling by allowing the release window to become public through what they described as an intentional leak.
The founders’ attorneys contend that the premature disclosure robbed Gill of his rightful role in orchestrating the announcement, which would typically involve coordinated marketing campaigns, community engagement, and carefully timed reveals designed to build excitement. Instead, the news trickled out through a leaked internal communication, which the legal team says caused real harm to the game and created confusion within the Subnautica fan community. As GameSpot reported, the filing explicitly states that Papoutsis lacked the authority to make such an announcement given that Gill had already been restored to his leadership position.
Krafton’s legal representatives pushed back swiftly, arguing that the Papoutsis memo was nothing more than an internal celebration of the development team’s hard work and a summary of a milestone review that had already taken place before the court’s decision. They maintained there was nothing improper about the communication and emphasized that Gill retains the ability to set a different timeline for the early access launch if he chooses.
The roots of this conflict stretch back to last summer, when Gill, Cleveland, and McGuire were removed from Unknown Worlds amid a dispute over a $250 million incentive bonus tied to the game’s financial performance. Reports later emerged that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim had reportedly turned to ChatGPT for guidance on how to avoid paying the bonus and remove the founders from the company. The recent court ruling not only restored Gill to his position but also extended the deadline for the leadership team to earn the contested bonus to September 2026.
With the legal battle showing no signs of resolution and both sides digging in, the future of Subnautica 2’s early access launch remains uncertain. The game is slated for Xbox Series X|S and PC, but whether it arrives in May or on a timeline set by Gill will likely depend on how the court proceedings unfold in the coming weeks.