Krafton is using the testimony of Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire from November in a Delaware court against the founders of the Subnautica studio. According to the publisher, the evidence shows: "there was no preconceived plan by Krafton to remove the management of Unknown Worlds in order to avoid an \"earn-out payment\"".
At the same time, Krafton claims that the testimony of the three co-founders "shows that they lied and tried to hide their departure from Subnautica 2 in order to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for nothing."
In court documents, Cleveland admitted:
I stopped working four months ago and went into semi-retirement.
McGuire noted:
I continue to perform individual tasks as needed, but I have long ceased to hold this position.
Gill stated during an audio call on June 10, 2025:
If you want to delay the game, just pay the \"earnout\" (payment based on results).
Krafton uses the evidence to show that the main interest of the three founders is \"earnout\" payments, and not the health of the studio and future releases.
