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The ousted founders of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds claim Krafton established a secret task force called ‘Project X’ in an effort to delay <\/span>Subnautica 2 <\/span><\/span>and avoid paying a multi-million dollar earnout tied to its successful early access launch.<\/span><\/p>\n In a pre-trial brief filed by Fortis Advisors on behalf of the Unknown World co-founders Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire, and Ted Gill (the plaintiffs), Krafton CEO Changhan ‘CH’ Kim is accused of using any means necessary to delay the title in an effort to avoid embarrassment and potentially even save his job.<\/span><\/p>\n The filing is the latest development in an very public legal spat between the former Unknown Worlds executive team and the studio’s parent company, Krafton.<\/span><\/p>\n The former <\/span>claim they were unjustly fired<\/a><\/span> after Krafton chose to delay <\/span>Subnautica 2<\/span><\/span> to avoid paying that aforementioned earnout, despite the project purportedly being in good shape ahead of its proposed 2025 early access launch.<\/span><\/p>\n Krafton, however, claims the three co-founders <\/span>downed tools after it acquired Unknown Worlds<\/a><\/span> and that <\/span>Subnautica 2<\/span><\/span> needs more time in the oven. It also said all three execs <\/span>stole information that amounted to a “blueprint” for Subnautica<\/a><\/span> on their way out of the door.<\/span><\/p>\n “Krafton fired the Founders and delayed the launch of <\/span>Subnautica 2<\/span><\/span> to avoid paying the earnout. That is what Plaintiff alleged in its complaint, and that is what the evidence will show at trial,” reads the pre-trial briefing, laying out the plaintiffs’ case. “After Krafton\u2019s finance department, in May 2025, forecast a base-case earnout of $191 million, Krafton needed a way to ‘cancel the earn-out.'”<\/span><\/p>\n