Krafton has confirmed the authenticity of a recent Subnautica 2 leak, revealing an internal presentation assessing the game’s troubled status. This development intensifies the ongoing drama surrounding Subnautica 2’s production.

On July 2, Krafton announced the removal of key members from the Subnautica 2 leadership team at Unknown Worlds: game director Charlie Cleveland, co-founder Max McGuire, and studio CEO Ted Gill. The dismissed executives have subsequently filed a lawsuit against the South Korean developer, alleging wrongful termination. Krafton maintains that these leadership changes were necessary due to a lack of progress and insufficient content on the game.

In a statement following the leak, Krafton highlighted that the circulated document is part of an internal milestone review for Subnautica 2. This review suggests significant content cuts, including multiple features that were initially planned for the early access version, contributing to the game’s delay. Krafton indicated that these decisions were made to better align the game’s development scope with its current status.

The leaked slides presented reveal that between Q2 2023 and Q2 2025, the team at Unknown Worlds has removed various game elements, which include:

• Two biomes
• A type of Leviathan
• Multiple creatures and tools
• One vehicle (Trident)
• Character customization features
• A custom game mode
• Six hours of story content

While many of these features may be delayed as opposed to completely cut, their absence has led to a significant reduction in the early access build, which prompted a reassessment of the game’s viability for launch.

Krafton has publicly criticized the ousted co-founders for alleged negligence, asserting that Cleveland prioritized personal projects over the game’s direction, which contributed to delays. Subnautica 2 has now been postponed again, with a new projected release in 2026 to ensure quality.

Cleveland refuted Krafton’s claims in a July 11 social media post, asserting that Subnautica is his life’s work and that he would never abandon it. He, along with the other co-founders, plans to pursue legal action against Krafton over their layoffs, which resulted in a loss of significant revenue bonuses linked to the game’s performance.