Marital dispute over "Subnautica 2" continues: developers now published themselves

Debora Pape

15-4-2026

Translation: machine translated

The legal battle between "Subnautica 2" developer Unknown Worlds and parent company Krafton continues. Now there are indications that Unknown Worlds is taking over the publication of the long-awaited game itself.

The American developer studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment and the South Korean publisher Krafton have been involved in the most high-profile marital dispute in the gaming industry for several months. The drama has everything the sensationalist public could wish for: managers fired and reinstated by the courts, bonus payments in the millions and even a baby together. And that is «Subnautica 2», the game that most players on Steam are currently looking forward to.

You can read the whole story so far in my earlier article.

Has «Subnautica 2» lost its publisher?

Now another chapter has been added: Krafton no longer appears to be the publisher for «Subnautica 2». On the platforms Steam and Xbox, which are important for marketing the game, Unknown Worlds is listed as the developer and according to Steam DB also as the publisher since 7 April. However, Krafton is still named on the «Subnautica 2» website and on Epic Games.

Neither side has commented on the change so far. Krafton is/was not only the publisher of «Subnautica 2», but has also owned Unknown Worlds since 2021.

If there is any truth to this new development, it raises questions. It is unclear who initiated the change. Did Krafton withdraw as publisher or was the developer able to free itself? As recently as March, a US court prohibited Krafton from illegally acquiring operational control of the studio. The publication of «Subnautica 2» under its own responsibility could be a consequence of this judgement. This also gives Unknown Worlds full control over the release date. However, a complete separation of the two companies - i.e. a buyback - is rather unlikely.

And what will become of the hotly debated bonus payment of 250 million US dollars to the developer studio? The court judgement in March prohibits Krafton from sabotaging the payout by interfering with or delaying it. According to the court, this is exactly what Krafton had attempted to do with the redundancies and the postponement of the release of «Subnautica 2». If Unknown Worlds achieves the agreed sales targets, Krafton is obliged to pay out the bonus.

What about «Subnautica 2»?

The ongoing dispute continues to raise concerns about the wellbeing of «Subnautica 2». The game was originally due to be released in 2025 and, according to studio founder Charlie Cleveland, was ready for Early Access release in the summer. However, following the surprising dismissal of the two founders and managing director Ted Gill by Krafton, the release was postponed to 2026. Krafton argued that the game was lagging far behind schedule. The development status of «Subnautica 2» has been at the centre of the dispute ever since.

No release date is currently specified. According to the latest status, a release in summer 2026 at the latest would be strategically important in order to achieve the relevant success targets for the bonus.

Unknown Worlds publishes dev vlogs at irregular intervals, in which certain aspects of the game are presented. The most recent video was released around a month ago and shows details of the new base-building system. The decidedly unagitated dev communication gives hope that «Subnautica 2» is on a good release path.

Debora Pape

Editor

Debora.Pape@galaxus.de

Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.

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