Charlie Cleveland, the former CEO and co-founder of Subnautica 2 studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment, has released a statement after leaving the company. Amid a wave of news and confusion around Microsoft layoffs and cancellations, Krafton had its own controversy when it decided to remove the entire leadership team at Unknown Worlds. While what exactly went down at the Subnautica 2 developer is still unclear, there's an apparent disconnect between Cleveland and Krafton's opinions on the game's progress.
Krafton announced it was replacing Subnautica 2's leaders "effective immediately" on July 2. Studio co-founders Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire were all let go, and industry veteran Steve Papoutsis, who previously worked on Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol, took over as CEO. The sudden change-up was a shock to fans, and thanks to a new statement from Cleveland, it seems it was a surprise to the three former execs, too.
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PostsCleveland, under the username Flayra, shared a lengthy statement on Reddit on July 4 addressing the debacle. He said the week had "been quite a shock," and that it "stings" to get ousted from the company and series he helped create decades ago. The post also reiterated that Cleveland and the rest of the former leaders believe that the game is ready for early access. This seems to conflict with Unknown Worlds' statement on the Subnautica 2 controversy, which asked fans to be patient as Papoutsis settles into his role as CEO before making the title available to play. The official statement did say an early access timeline was "coming soon," but Cleveland's post suggests Subnautica 2's current build is already ready for pre-release.
Former Unknown Worlds CEO Says Subnautica 2 Is Ready for Early Access
It's unclear if this disconnect means that Krafton is making changes to the game or if it simply disagrees with its state of readiness. In April, Unknown Worlds said it hoped to bring Subnautica 2 to early access later in 2025, but Krafton's statements after the change in leadership sound like it believes the title needs more work before it can deliver the expected fan experience. That may mean a delayed early access launch, but it's difficult to nail down specifics without more information, especially because Unknown Worlds had not previously offered a specific date.
CloseKrafton does have a history of pushing things back in the name of quality. In June, the company delayed an InZOI update by a month to "ensure feature completeness." Given that, it's likely that Subnautica 2 may take slightly longer than some expected before it goes into early access, even if the game's former skipper disagrees with the move.
