One of the co-founders of Subnautica 2 studio Unknown Worlds has made a statement about the dramatic reshuffle of management at the studio, saying that it “stings” to have the game and company taken away from him by publishing overlords Krafton. He also asserts that the game is “ready for early access”, but that Krafton may disagree. It doesn’t explicitly answer any of the outstanding questions about what actually happened at the studio to cause the axing of three senior leaders last week. But it does provide some clues.
For background, three chiefs at Unknown Worlds were “replaced” last week by the studio owners Krafton, who installed a new figure as CEO of the company. Co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max MacGuire, plus former CEO Ted Gill, were all summarily ousted from their positions. In their place Krafton shipped in Steve Papoutsis, a producer who has worked on The Callisto Protocol and the Dead Space series.
The exact reasons remain cloudy, but the language of Krafton’s original press release suggested a disatisfaction with the pace at which Unknown Worlds was working. Following the power shuffle, Unknown Worlds also released a statement that asked fans to be patient while Papoutsis found his feet on the project. It didn’t clear much up.
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Now, co-founder Charlie Cleveland has spoken about the events in a statement posted across social media, saying that it hurts to find himself out of the studio. He writes at length about the studio’s history, and significantly notes that Subnautica 2 is the second most-wishlisted game on Steam.
“So you can see why for Max, Ted, myself, the Unknown Worlds team, and for our community, the events of this week have been quite a shock. We know that the game is ready for early access release and we know you’re ready to play it. And while we thought this was going to be our decision to make, at least for now, that decision is in Krafton’s hands. And after all these years, to find that I’m no longer able to work at the company I started stings.”
The assertion that the game is “ready for early access” raises an eyebrow, as it seems to contradict Krafton’s version of events. In their statement, they said that the studio under Papoutsis would have to commit to “clearly defined metrics and targets” presumably hitting the demanded quality by set deadlines. “This process is essential to delivering the right game at the right time,” they said. They didn’t mention any internal disagreement over whether the game was currently ready or not.
Altogether this suggests that the leadership of Unknown Worlds and their business daddies at Krafton were at loggerheads over the quality of the early access build, which was intended to release some time in 2025 with an early access life of 2-3 years before hitting 1.0. Elsewhere in the statement, Cleveland talks about the original Subnautica, and says: “There’s no way it would’ve been as successful if we had waited until v1.0 before releasing it to the public.”
This may help explain why Papoutsis was parachuted in. For context, Unknown Worlds are known for transparent and steady-paced development through early access. Papoutsis’ studio Striking Distance is known for releasing a shonky shooter badly affected by intense crunch.
Unfortunately, Cleveland’s statement does not go into the specifics of the falling out, beyond those assertions. So there are likely wrinkles to the drama we still don’t know. His statement is mostly a nostalgic waltz through his career at the studio, which began as a group of modders. He does end with the line “this is not where the story ends”, although doesn’t specify if this means a new venture in video games, or something from his AI-assisted movie company.
Meanwhile, the release schedule for Subnautica 2 itself seems to be under review. “An update to our schedule and more information, including the Early Access timeline, will be coming soon,” said Unknown Worlds.
