Studio of Subnautica Loses Its Three Main Leaders

So, the Korean publisher Krafton just dropped some pretty big news about Unknown Worlds, that’s the studio you probably know best for the Subnautica games. The main thing is, Steve Papoutsis is now the CEO at Unknown Worlds. He’s been CEO before at Striking Distance, and he was also a General Manager at EA’s Visceral. This big change happened right after three key folks left Unknown Worlds: Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire, and Ted Gill. Krafton confirmed they left, but they didn’t say why. Krafton says they didn’t fire any of them, which kind of makes you wonder if there was some drama going on inside. Even though Krafton really wanted to keep the Unknown Worlds co-founders and the original Subnautica creators involved in making games, the company still wished them all the best for whatever’s next, according to a statement Krafton put out on Wednesday. Back on October 29, 2021, after PUBG blew up worldwide, Krafton announced they’d fully bought Unknown Worlds for at least $500 million. At the time, they really stressed that the studio’s management would stay in charge. Now, with Steve Papoutsis leading the way, Krafton is again saying their big goal is to give players a much more polished Subnautica 2, something that truly meets what everyone’s hoping for. “We’re super happy to have Steve on board as we all work together at Krafton and Unknown Worlds to make Subnautica 2 way more polished and enjoyable – the kind of game players really want,” said CH Kim, who’s the CEO of Krafton

Subnautica 2 doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s going to kick off in Early Access. The plan is for it to keep getting better for maybe two or three years before the full game comes out. This survival and underwater exploration game is set to launch on Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X|S, PC (through Xbox), and Xbox Game Pass. But don’t expect to see it among the games Krafton shows off next month at Gamescom in Cologne. Still, it’s pretty much expected to land sometime in 2025. So, Unknown Worlds, that studio famous for the Subnautica games, just saw its three main leaders – Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire, and Ted Gill – leave. Their Korean owner, Krafton, confirmed they left and said they didn’t fire any of them. The publisher is denying any internal drama and just wished the execs good luck for the future.