"Krafton is currently focusing on supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2," states the South Korean company, even though it is no longer listed as the publisher of Subnautica 2.
The most-wanted game on Steam is Subnautica 2. According to estimates by Alinea Analytics, the open-water survival game, which unlike its predecessor can also be played cooperatively in multiplayer, has been added to over 3.8 million wishlists, as of February 2026. Recently, a change on Steam came as a surprise when the publisher listing changed. At the beginning of April, both Unknown Worlds Entertainment and Krafton Inc. were listed as publishers, as can be seen via the Wayback Machine. Recently, however, only Unknown Worlds Entertainment has been listed as the publisher. We therefore contacted Krafton and received the following response: "Krafton is currently focusing on supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2. We are unable to share any further details at this time." (Original wording of the reply: "Krafton konzentriert sich derzeit darauf, den Start von Subnautica 2 im Early Access zu begleiten. Derzeit können wir nicht mehr dazu teilen.")
In October 2021, Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds Entertainment (UWE). According to reports, the initial payment was $500 million, with a further performance-based payment of up to $250 million. However, Krafton and the founders of Unknown Worlds have been involved in a serious legal dispute since 2025 over the payment of the agreed bonuses. Krafton is accused of deliberately delaying the development of Subnautica 2 in order to avoid paying the bonuses, totalling $250 million, which had been agreed. In July 2025, CEO Ted Gill, co-founder and creative director Charlie Cleveland, and co-founder and technical director Max McGuire were removed from UWE (and replaced by Steve Papoutsis). The publisher accused the founders of "abandoning" the project and neglecting their leadership roles. The dismissed founders filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery. They claimed that Krafton had postponed the release of Subnautica 2 until 2026, meaning that the revenue targets set for the end of 2025 in order to receive the $250 million bonus would be unachievable.
In March 2026, the court ruled in favour of the developers. Ted Gill, the dismissed CEO, was reinstated. The court found no sufficient grounds for the dismissal. The judge ordered that the deadline for the $250 million bonus be extended to at least 15 September 2026, with the option of extending it further. As part of this, Krafton was ordered to restore Gill's access to Steam and give him authority over the Early Access launch of the game. Shortly afterwards, Krafton announced that the Early Access period would begin in May 2026. Unknown Worlds Entertainment has not announced a date. The legal dispute is now moving into a new phase regarding damages. (Sources: IGN, Kotaku, Reuters, Bloomberg, wccftech)
