Subnautica 2 launches soon after lengthy legal dispute

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Follow Follow See All News Subnautica 2 launches soon after lengthy legal dispute Steam’s most-wishlisted game has an official early access release date in May. Steam’s most-wishlisted game has an official early access release date in May. by Jay Peters Close Jay Peters Senior Reporter Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

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Follow Follow See All by Jay Peters Apr 30, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC Link Share Gift If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Image: Unknown Worlds Entertainment Jay Peters Close Jay Peters Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Follow Follow See All by Jay Peters is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. After some protracted legal drama, Subnautica 2 is finally about to launch.

The game, which is currently Steam’s most-wishlisted title and was caught up in a dispute between top executives at developer Unknown Worlds and its owner, Krafton, will be available in early access on PC and Xbox Series X / S starting May 14th. Subnautica 2 was originally set to enter early access in 2025, but was delayed last July to 2026, at least publicly, due to feedback from playtests . However, the delay happened days after Krafton pushed out Unknown Worlds’ previous bosses, Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire — a move that Bloomberg reported happened ahead of a promised $250 million bonus if the studio met certain performance targets by the end of 2025.

Industry Implications

That bonus would have been shared with the game’s development team. The executives sued , and in March, a judge reinstated Gill as Unknown Worlds’ CEO and extended the eligibility period for the $250 million bonus to September 15th, as reported by Kotaku . Despite all of that, two developers on the Unknown Worlds team say that they’ve just been pushing through it.

The team has been making “the best game they possibly can” while working to “keep the noise out of the way,” creative media producer Scott MacDonald tells The Verge . “We all just kept working on the game while all of the legal stuff happened around us,” says game design lead Anthony Gallegos. “Which isn’t to say that it was always easy, but I think we always had the strong support of the fans and that helped us carry on and focus on making the game.

” Krafton isn’t totally out of the picture.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.