Krafton has officially acknowledged the validity of recently leaked internal documents concerning Subnautica 2's troubled development. This confirmation comes amidst growing tension between the publisher and former leaders of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the studio behind the underwater survival franchise.

The controversy escalated on July 2 when Krafton announced the removal of key figures from Subnautica 2's leadership team, including game director Charlie Cleveland, co-founder Max McGuire, and studio CEO Ted Gill. The dismissed executives have filed a lawsuit against the South Korean publisher, alleging unjust termination. Krafton maintains the decision resulted from insufficient project progress and content quality issues, claiming the leadership failed to fulfill their responsibilities, causing significant delays.

Krafton recently verified that circulating slides from an internal May 2025 presentation are genuine. These documents, which surfaced on Reddit, outline substantial content cuts from the early access version, including two biomes, a Leviathan creature type, multiple tools and creatures, the Trident vehicle, character customization, a custom game mode, and six hours of narrative content. While some elements were postponed rather than eliminated entirely, these reductions reportedly necessitated reevaluating the game's launch timeline.

The publisher has publicly criticized the former executives, particularly Cleveland, accusing him of prioritizing personal projects over game development. Krafton attributes Subnautica 2's delayed 2026 release to these alleged leadership failures. However, Cleveland vehemently denies these claims, describing Subnautica as his life's work and contesting Krafton's assessment of the game's readiness. The legal dispute involves potential lost bonuses worth approximately $225 million tied to Krafton's 2021 acquisition of Unknown Worlds.