There’s a bit of controversy going on with developer Unknown Worlds, the creators of the underwater survival games Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, and their publisher KRAFTON. In short, the leadership team at Unknown Worlds, comprised of Ted Gill (CEO), Charlie Cleveland (co-founder and Subnautica game director), and Max McGuire (co-founder and technical director) has been removed by KRAFTON, and replaced by Steve Papoutsis, who has worked on the Dead Space series and is currently also the CEO of Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance.
In their statement, KRAFTON states they tried to keep the leadership team “involved” in Subnautica 2’s development. Which could mean the team left voluntarily, or left voluntarily after being removed from their leadership positions. KRAFTON then released a new teaser trailer for Subnautica 2 with a new release window of 2026 while reasssuring the fan base of their commitment to excellence and the player experience for the game.
Meanwhile, in a blog post, Cleveland claims that their removal from the company they founded was shocking, and also that Subnautica 2 is ready for release into Early Access right now.
That being said, Subnautica 2 is one of the most anticipated game releases over the next year, and will be playable sometime in 2026. Check out the new teaser trailer below:
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