Krafton has confirmed a Subnautica 2 dev leaks, which dives into allegedly missing content and claims that the game wasn’t ready for Early Access.
Krafton has confirmed the authenticity of a leaked internal report that criticised the state of Subnautica 2's development, fueling its ongoing feud with the game’s original creators. The report first surfaced on Kotaku, and Krafton later confirmed its authenticity to PC Gamer. It outlines missing features, scaled-back content, and recommends delaying the Early Access launch.
The leak adds some alleged evidence to Krafton’s claim that former Unknown Worlds heads Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire, and Ted Gill had not delivered on their leadership roles. The trio, however, insist they were sidelined, and are now suing Krafton over what Cleveland calls a “painful, public and possibly protracted” fallout.
Krafton says Subnautica 2 was lacking key content in 2025 build
Two internal slides, shared on Imgur, show an alleged milestone review from May 2025 evaluating Subnautica 2’s readiness. The document states that the Early Access version lacked “freshness and volume expected of a sequel,” and had seen a major drop in features compared to earlier plans.
According to the report, the game was missing:
- Two biomes
- One leviathan-class creature
- A new vehicle
- A game mode
- And about six hours of story content, which had been delayed
It also mentions that the game’s content had been “reduced or adjusted across various elements such as biomes, creatures, equipment/progression, and features.” This ultimately led to a recommendation to delay the release and reassess the overall development timeline.
In their statement first reported by PC Gamer, Krafton confirmed the leak was genuine:
“The document that has been circulating on social media and reported by various outlets is indeed part of an internal milestone review conducted as part of the Subnautica 2 project.”
The publisher explained that such reviews are routine and help ensure progress stays aligned with Krafton’s standards in “creativity and quality.”
Leak seemingly strengthens Krafton’s defence in legal battle with former devs
The leaked slides appear to bolster Krafton’s version of events, suggesting that Subnautica 2 was not ready for public release and that internal concerns existed before the recent leadership shake-up. Krafton had previously accused Cleveland and his fellow co-founders of “abandoning the responsibilities entrusted to them” and failing to deliver a game that met expectations.
The dispute turned litigious after Krafton removed the trio from Unknown Worlds in early July. Cleveland responded by announcing a lawsuit, stating: “Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it.”
He also denied Krafton’s claim that the trio intended to keep the studio’s $250 million earnout bonus for themselves. “The idea that Max, Ted and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue,” Cleveland wrote. “Historically we’ve always shared our profits with the team.”
Cleveland and the others have yet to respond to the new allegations tied to the leaked internal review.
