All games are a miracle. The development of a video game is a very long process that involves many people who need to row in the same direction, and it is difficult for it to go well. But some are more miraculous than others. Because for every project that comes out without any notable incidents that warrant public attention, there is at least one other that never even sees the light of day.

And then there is the case of Subnautica 2. A rare bird where, after signing a tremendous success, it seemed that everything was going well, until endless news started to emerge about the disaster of its development. Followed by lawsuits, negligent uses of AI, and truly surreal stories about its development. All while it is discovered that it is the game on the most wishlists on Steam, making it a serious candidate to hold its own even against GTA6. But what is its story? That’s what we are going to talk about today.

A little context

To understand everything else, we first need to understand where the first Subnautica comes from. An adventure and survival game with action elements where we embody the only survivor of a space expedition on an entirely oceanic alien planet. With no way to escape from there, we will have to do the only thing we can do: catalog the flora and fauna of the place, find resources to survive, and look for a way to escape the planet by diving through its vast oceans.

Inspired by Minecraft, but with a strong emphasis on the underwater aspect, the game was a modest critical success. Released in January 2018, it seemed like it was going to be a title that wouldn’t go unnoticed, winning the award for best PC game of the year at the Golden Joystick Awards, but it also wouldn’t be revolutionary. But players thought otherwise. Selling over 5 million copies in less than two years.

With these excellent numbers, they decided to release an early access sequel in January 2019, Subnautica: Below Zero. And although the critics did not respond enthusiastically, seeing it as excessively continuist, the game has ended up finding its audience. Today considered a spinoff, it would lead to a true sequel, Subnautica 2. In addition to the initial problems of its studio, Unknown Worlds Entertainment.

Huge Problems

In October 2021, Krafton, the Korean multinational, acquires Unknown Worlds Entertainment after the success of Subnautica. For a few years, there is hardly any new or relevant information. Subnautica: Below Zero leaves early access on May 14, 2021, but for a while, they continue to not announce their next project. Until on April 7, 2022, they confirm from Unknown Worlds Entertainment that they are working on “the new game in the Subnautica universe”.

The information will not be fluid or constant from this point on. The next thing we will know will be in November 2023, when Krafton, at its shareholders’ meeting, states that its intention is to launch the game sometime in 2025. On February 8, 2024, during another shareholders’ meeting, they reveal more details, stating that it will be a multiplayer game as a service, which causes Subnautica fans to strongly oppose the project. In response, the studio claims that “there will be no season passes, battle passes, or subscriptions.”

But problems arose in 2025. In July of that year, Krafton announced that the founders of Unknown Worlds, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, and the company’s CEO, Ted Gill, had left the company and were replaced by Steve Papoutsis, CEO of Striking Distance Studios. Moving the game’s release to 2026, they did not provide further explanations about what was behind that moment. Until a journalist decided to investigate.

Jason Schreier, an investigative journalist specializing in the video game industry, discovered that they did not leave, but were fired. What was the reason? If Subnautica 2 reached early access status on time, during the year 2025, Krafton would have to pay Unknown Worlds a bonus of 250 million dollars. According to Cleveland and McGuire, the game was ready to be launched in early access throughout the year. That’s why they were fired. To avoid having to pay the bonus.

Of Trials and AIs

All of this led to Cleveland and McGuire suing Krafton. This is when everything behind the scenes started to come to light. Krafton’s legal defense was that the game did not have enough material to “drive the growth and expansion of the IP,” needing to create 30% more content. And they made this known to Unknown Worlds. The problem, in Krafton’s eyes, is that Cleveland and McGuire were only focused on the $250 million bonus, offering an unpolished product, which led Krafton to decide to delay its release, saving them $250 million, “to protect the interests of the game’s fans.” This was something Unknown Worlds refused, which led Krafton to replace its founders and its CEO.

This could have been upheld in a trial were it not for an important detail. There were 250 million at stake. And the CEO of Krafton himself stated in writing that he wanted to do whatever it took to avoid paying them.

In one of the most surreal twists in the recent history of the video game industry, the trial revealed all the conversations about Chang-han Kim’s attempt, the CEO of Krafton, to avoid paying those 250 million. First, he consulted his lawyers who told him the obvious: there is no legal way to avoid paying them. They have a contract. It is binding. If they comply, he must pay. But since the answer was not satisfactory to him, he did what all executives in the world currently do when they want to hear the answer they want: he consulted ChatGPT. And ChatGPT, after insisting that there had to be a way to avoid paying them, told him that he could always replace them. And that’s what he did.

With the records being read in court, that was enough for Krafton to lose the lawsuit. It was demonstrated beyond any doubt that they had made a business decision not to fulfill a legal contract, the judge in the case, in March 2026, reinstated Cleveland and McGuire at the studio and Gill as CEO of Unknown Worlds and gave him control over the early access launch, extending the date associated with the bonus until September 2026.

After all this, on April 7 of this year, Krafton has completely distanced itself from the project. Unknown Worlds is the distributor and publisher of the game. Does that mean they won’t have to pay the 250 million anymore, in exchange for granting them the studio’s freedom? It seems most likely, but we still don’t know for sure. What does seem certain is that Subnautica 2 will be released in early access this year. And it has everything to be a hit. Because it certainly hasn’t lacked publicity.