Krafton Is 'Not Not the Publisher' of Subnautica 2

"They're not not the publisher anymore." That's the actual quote from Subnautica 2 design lead Anthony Gallegos when asked about Krafton's role in the game, speaking to Eurogamer. If you think that sentence reads like someone choosing their words very, very carefully under legal supervision, you're probably not wrong.

Unknown Worlds confirmed today that Subnautica 2 launches into early access on May 14 on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Xbox Series X|S, with Game Pass inclusion on day one. The underwater survival sequel brings four-player co-op to the series for the first time, sets players on a new alien planet, and promises two to three years of early access development before a 1.0 release. On paper, it's exactly what fans of the original have been waiting for. Behind the scenes, it's one of the messiest publisher-developer situations in recent memory.

The Publishing Question Nobody Can Answer

Earlier this month, Krafton was quietly removed from the publisher field on Subnautica 2's Steam page. That raised immediate questions given the ongoing legal war between Krafton and Unknown Worlds' founding leadership. Krafton responded with a statement saying it was "currently focused on successfully supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2" and had "nothing further to share." That's the kind of non-answer that tells you more than any actual answer would.

Now, Unknown Worlds' developers are calling it a "co-publishing" arrangement. Creative media producer Scott MacDonald told Eurogamer that the Steam page removal "may have blown up a little bigger than it was meant to," adding that Krafton is "still very much helping us with the launch of the game." A Krafton PR representative on the same call reportedly agreed with that characterization. So Krafton is the publisher, except on the store page where they're not listed, except they are still co-publishing, except nobody will explain what changed or why. I've covered a lot of corporate messaging in this industry, and this is some of the most deliberately opaque language I've seen attached to a game two weeks from launch.

The backdrop makes the doublespeak harder to ignore. Last summer, Krafton fired Unknown Worlds co-founders Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire, replacing Gill with industry veteran Steve Papoutsis as CEO. The ousted founders then alleged that Krafton delayed Subnautica 2 into 2026 to avoid paying out a $250 million bonus tied to a successful launch year. A judge ordered Gill reinstated as CEO, and Krafton's response was to announce a May release window before Gill could even assess the state of the game or the team. Lawyers representing Unknown Worlds leadership have alleged that the release date itself was "intentionally leaked" by Krafton.

That last detail is the one that sticks with me. If true, it means the release date announcement wasn't a celebration of a game being ready; it was a chess move in an active lawsuit. Players excited for Subnautica 2 deserve better than having their game's launch timeline dictated by legal strategy rather than development milestones.

None of this necessarily means the game will suffer. Unknown Worlds has a strong track record with early access. The original Subnautica spent four years in early access before its 1.0 launch in 2018, and Below Zero followed a similar path before releasing in 2021. Gallegos and MacDonald both emphasized in interviews that community feedback will shape Subnautica 2's development, pointing to how the original game's food and water mechanics were added because players asked for them. Unknown Worlds has stated it expects the early access period to run roughly two to three years, putting a full release somewhere between 2027 and 2028.

But a game launching into early access with an unresolved $250 million lawsuit between its developer and its maybe-publisher is not normal. The fact that the people making Subnautica 2 can't give a straight answer about who's publishing it, two weeks before it goes on sale, tells you everything about how fractured this relationship is. Subnautica 2 will be available on May 14 with a price increase planned after early access ends, and it will be included in Xbox Game Pass from launch.