Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and founders Charlie Cleveland and Max Mcguire are bringing Krafton back to court over Subnautica 2’s Early Access announcement.
Last week, a Delaware court ruled that Krafton violated their employee agreement with the three. They decided that Ted would be reinstated as CEO, but Charlie and Max would not return.
A day later, Steve Papoutsis, who was assigned as Unknown Worlds’ current head by Krafton, announced that Subnautica 2 was entering Early Access this May.
The three claim that this announcement violates the court’s decision, saying:
..in defiance of the Court’s Opinion, Krafton has now taken that away, further damaging the game and sowing additional confusion among the Subnautica community.
Notably, the court decision says:
… corporate friction does not excuse a material breach of contract. Nor does it override a bargained-for specific performance clause.
Krafton and Gill are sophisticated commercial actors. They can—and must—act in good faith to navigate their remaining contractual relationship.
We’ve already seen the court won’t give the three everything they wanted even after ruling in their favor. But Subnautica 2’s development may now get caught up in this back and forth.