Subnautica 2 Steam change suggests Krafton might be out as its publisher following long legal battle and reinstatement of studio leader

UPDATE 15/4/26: Krafton has told Eurogamer it's "currently focused on successfully supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2.

We have nothing further to share at this time." The original story continues below.

ORIGINAL 14/4/26: Subnautica 2 is finally nearing an early access release, but it's the legal battle and ongoing drama between publisher Krafton and studio Unknown Worlds that has been getting most of the attention since founder Charlie Cleveland and CEO Ted Gill were let go last summer.

According to the former studio bosses, Krafton was looking for ways to avoid paying Unknown Worlds' devs bonuses based on a targets the studio was set to hit.

.

After some legal back and forth, a judge ruled last month Krafton had to reinstate CEO of Unknown Worlds Ted Gill.

The publisher "respectfully" disagreed with the ruling but said it was exploring a new path forward while focusing on "delivering the best possible game to Subnautica's fans." Days later, Gill claimed Krafton pushed to "leak" a May release window without consulting him.

Subnautica 2 - Official ‘Diving Together in Multiplayer’ Developer Overview Trailer Watch on YouTube This whole saga is far from over, but a recent change on the game's Steam page that has been just been picked up by industry figures suggests a big shift could be announced in the coming days or weeks.

At the time of writing, Krafton is no longer listed as the publisher of Subnautica 2.

.

Instead, as per the listing, it looks like Unknown Worlds Entertainment will be self-publishing the title.

The internal changes, which added a number of tags and categories to the title's page while also removing Krafton's involvement, happened on 7th April according to SteamDB, meaning this isn't a recent slip-up, either (and that, for example, there would have been ample time to correct this listing if it was made in error) ## Editor's Note The gaming community will surely have mixed reactions to this news. Source: [Eurogamer](https://www.eurogamer.net/subnautica-2-could-be-self-published-by-developer-unknown-worlds-following-legal-battle)