KRAFTON Confirms Leaked Subnautica 2 Development Documents Are Real As A Way Of “Minimizing Speculation”

If you were making a list of predictions for the video game industry in 2025 back in January, it's doubtful that you would have included a very public and messy battle between developer Unknown Worlds and its parent company, KRAFTON, over the development of Subnautica 2 on that list.

But that's exactly where we are today, as the whole situation has kept getting messier and even more public, with KRAFTON confirming that leaked documents showing the development progress of Subnautica 2 are in fact real. It is confirming the legitimacy of the documents as a measure of "minimizing speculation," it said in a statement to Eurogamer and other outlets. That said, establishing the legitimacy of these documents accomplishes more than 'minimizing speculation.'

To recap, two years ago, and just a couple of years into Unknown Worlds being a KRAFTON subsidiary, everything looked fine from the outside. According to KRAFTON in November 2023, we were going to have a new Subnautica game to play by June 2025. When Subnautica 2 was properly revealed in October 2024, everything seemed on track with the November 2023 prediction.

June 2025 came and went, without Subnautica 2 launching into early access as planned. Everything almost immediately became very messy and very public.

• On July 2, 2025, KRAFTON fired the three co-founders of Unknown Worlds, Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill, and Max McGuire, replacing them with former Striking Distance Studios head, Steve Papoutsis.
  
  KRAFTON offered no explanation for Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire's departure at the time, only saying that while it "sought to keep the Unknown Worlds' co-founders and original creators of the Subnautica series involved in the game's development, the company wishes them well on their next endeavors." KRAFTON quickly switched to how confident it was in Papoutsis, and added, "There is nothing more important than the gamer experience."

• The next day on July 3, Unknown Worlds did its best to reassure concerned fans that Subnautica 2 was still in good hands, and that there was no reason for alarm at the departure of Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire.
  
  
• On July 4, Cleveland published a lengthy statement on social media in which he called his and his co-founders' departure "quite a shock," and claimed that Subnautica 2 was "ready for early access release."
  
  
• Five days later, on July 9, Bloomberg published a report that claimed Subnautica 2 had been delayed into 2026, which would jeopardize Unknown Worlds' chances of earning a $250 million bonus the studio was promised when KRAFTON acquired Unknown Worlds in 2021, if the team hit certain revenue targets by the end of 2025.
  
  To the external viewer, it was easy to speculate that KRAFTON was delaying Subnautica 2 to avoid paying the substantial bonus. Not only had one of the game's lead developers claimed it was ready to launch, but Bloomberg's report also included internal comments from Papoutsis, who allegedly said KRAFTON's reason for the delay was a lack of content, a fairly subjective measure to base the readiness of an early access launch on. Sources Bloomberg spoke to also alleged that hitting the revenue goals required to unlock the bonus were "unattainable" without a 2025 launch for Subnautica 2.
  
  
• Hours after Bloomberg's report, the delay was confirmed by Unknown Worlds, which published a statement saying the decision to delay the game was based on feedback it had received during internal playtests. KRAFTON also added that delaying the game "was not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations."
  
  
• The next day, on July 10, KRAFTON pointed its finger directly at the three co-founders, Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire, blaming them for Subnautica 2's delay, alleging that they had "abandoned" their roles and responsibilities. KRAFTON claimed the three leaders "refused" to do their jobs, and even claimed that Cleveland was prioritizing a personal film project over his day job working at Unknown Worlds. KRAFTON also claimed that the three co-founders were due to get 90% of the aforementioned $250 million bonus, with the remaining 10% divided amongst a portion of the 100 developers working at Unknown Worlds.
  
  
• Later that same day, Cleveland confirmed what seemed inevitable at this point, that he and his fellow co-founders had filed a lawsuit against KRAFTON. Cleveland also denied any insinuation that he and his co-founders would have kept the $250 million bonus to themselves, saying that the bonus would have been shared with the whole studio, and added that they did the same thing in 2021, sharing the earnings from KRAFTON's purchase of Unknown Worlds with the development team. Jason Schreier, who authored the original Bloomberg report, added that the suit was for a "breach of contract."
  
  
• The next day, on July 11, documents claiming to be part of an internal presentation documenting Subnautica 2's development leaked online. The documents showed that, in KRAFTON's eyes, Subnautica 2 was below the "level of polish and market impact required to drive IP growth and expansion." It also showed that content initially planned for the early access launch had been removed, and overall, dubbed the game as not ready for launch, even in early access. "Due to a gap between the current state and the content volume assumed during the initial planning, it is necessary to reassess the release timeline and roadmap," reads a bolded section on one of the leaked pages.

Which brings us to today, July 14, where over the weekend on July 13, KRAFTON confirmed that the leaked documents are in fact real. "KRAFTON is issuing the following statement in response to growing speculation surrounding the development of Subnautica 2," the company began. "This statement aims to offer clarity and context regarding the current situation."

"The document that has been circulating on social media and reported by various outlets is indeed part of an internal milestone review conducted as part of the Subnautica 2 project. KRAFTON has confirmed that portions of it have been leaked and are now being widely shared across online platforms and within the fan community. KRAFTON recognizes the confusion this has caused. Given these circumstances, KRAFTON has determined that transparent communication is necessary and has chosen to confirm the authenticity of the document. KRAFTON believes that minimizing speculation and ensuring accurate communication with players must take precedence."

"Milestone reviews are conducted regularly in collaboration with KRAFTON's creative studios across all projects. These reviews help assess development progress, define clear objectives, and ensure that each project aligns with KRAFTON's standards in both creativity and quality. This process is central to KRAFTON's commitment to delivering polished, high-quality games at the right time." KRAFTON ended its statement saying it will "continue working closely with Unknown Worlds to ensure that Subnautica 2 meets the expectations of players who have supported the franchise over the years."

In all of KRAFTON's public comments on this issue, the company has tried to claim that it is centering the player in all of this, and that its goal is always to ensure players are getting the absolute best experience possible, and that KRAFTON is being as transparent as possible with players.

Confirming the legitimacy of these leaked documents backs up what KRAFTON has been saying all along, that Subnautica 2 was not ready to be out this year and that it needed more time. It also potentially helps KRAFTON in both the court of public opinion and the coming lawsuit it faces against Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire.

It remains to be seen whether it can prove the three co-founders "abandoned" their roles, and that the game really wasn't ready to launch, and if players will believe that a massive corporation like KRAFTON is as concerned as it says it is with clear communication with players in all of this. It'll also be interesting to see what Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire's lawsuit is referring to regarding KRAFTON allegedly breaching the contract it had with the three co-founders. So far, at the time of this writing, there has been no word from Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire since KRAFTON confirmed the leaked documents to be authentic.

Needless to say, this story is far from over. We'll continue to update you as more details become public.

Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.