Unknown Worlds, the team behind the hotly anticipated Subnautica 2, could be about to miss out on a $250 million payout after the game was delayed to 2026 against their founders’ wishes.
The long-awaited sequel to the 2014 original was due to arrive in 2025, but publisher Krafton pushed the release until 2026. According to a report from Bloomberg, this decision could cost the team, including much of the studio floor, hundreds of thousands of dollars each.
This payout was reportedly tied to certain revenue goals for the year, which Unknown Worlds will likely miss out on now without the launch of Subnautica 2.
Subnautica 2 delayed to 2026 against wishes of studio founders
All of this news comes shortly after studio co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, and CEO Ted Gill, were fired from their positions and replaced by Striking Distance (The Callisto Protocol) CEO Steve Papoutsis.
Following his dismissal, Cleveland confirmed that the delay came from the publisher, not the development team itself.
“We know that the game is ready for early access release and we know you’re ready to play it,” he said in a Reddit post. “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.”
According to a recording of a meeting heard by Bloomberg, incoming CEO Steve Papoutsis was questioned about the delay, and he explained that it has nothing to do with dodging the bonus payout.
“While yes, the software that everybody worked on is in a great spot and it felt like, ‘Hey we should launch this,’ that wasn’t where both parties aligned around,” he said. “It’s never been told to me that we’re making this change specifically to impact any earnout or anything like that.”
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