Earlier this month, it was reported that Krafton, the parent company of Unknown Worlds, had forcibly evicted Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, co-founders of the studio, and former CEO Ted Gill, and subsequently postponed the publication of Subnautica 2.
The subsequent saliva fighting between the former leadership and Krafton eventually turned into a lawsuit. Today, Cleveland shares the full details of the proceedings against Krafton, who for many years has tried to refuse to pay the promised $250 million bonus to Unknown Worlds.
The suit, which was made available online, accused Krafton of deliberately destroying the pre-exposure release of Deep Sea Lost 2 by refusing to carry out its previously agreed pre-publishing activities. It was also noted that Unknown Worlds had included a clause in the 2021 agreement prohibiting Krafton from firing its leadership for no reason.
Bloomberg first reported that Krafton would have paid US$ 250 million if Unknown Worlds had met certain financial targets in 2025. The litigation stated that the decision of Krafton to dismiss the Unknown Worlds leadership was simply to prevent the release of Deep Sea Lost 2 in 2025 in any form, which would make it almost impossible for the financial target to trigger a $250 million payment. The proceedings further required the Court to compel Krafton to pay the previously agreed amount and to return the creative control of Deep Sea Convey 2 to the former leader of Unknown Worlds.
In response to the proceedings, a spokesperson for Krafton sent the following statement to GameSpot:
“Krafton’s decision is to ensure that Deep Sea Lost 2 becomes the best game and meets the expectations of its fans. The short-term release of the game without sufficient content to meet the expectations of the fans for its continuation would not only disappoint the player (who is at the heart of all Krafton ‘ s work), but also damage the reputation of the Deep Ocean Lost and Unknown Worlds brands. While we are disappointed that Charlie, Max and Ted have filed lawsuits seeking substantial compensation, we look forward to defending ourselves in court. At the same time, Krafton remains focused on the most important thing: to bring the best game to the fans of Deep Sea Lost as soon as possible.”
Krafton had previously issued a statement accusing Cleveland and other former leaders of abdicating their responsibility for the Deep Sea Convey 2. Earlier this week, a leaking document developed by Deep Sea Convey 2 appeared to support Krafton ‘ s claim that the game did not meet the standards required for the release of pre-empirical versions, but that the legal dispute could take several years to divide the winners. The Deep Sea Convey 2 is expected to be launched on the PC and Xbox Series X-rayS platforms in 2026.