Krafton CEO Changhan “CH” Kim claims that the South Korean publisher would not have acquired the Subnautica Unknown Worlds developer if it had known that studio co-founder and game director Charlie Cleveland allegedly intended to reduce his role after the purchase.
Kim's remarks come as the ongoing trial between ousted Unknown Worlds co-founders Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire and Ted Gill is taking place this week in Delaware Chancery Court.
Cleveland, McGuire and Gill are looking to re-establish themselves at Unknown Worlds after being fired by Crafton earlier this year. The trio claim Crafton forced them to leave so the publisher could avoid paying out multi-million dollar earnings associated with the successful launch of early access in 2025 Subnautica 2which was delayed until 2026. They also claim that Kim tried to seize control of the studio by formed a secret task force dubbed “Project X” to protect his work.
Crafton, however, claims that team management left their posts. In a pretrial brief filed by the conglomerate earlier this month (uploaded by game developer on Scribd), Crafton accused the former executives of becoming “absentee landlords” after allegedly breaking tools and stealing sensitive information while leaving the house.
Testifying in court on November 18, 2025, Kim stated that Crafton did not know that Cleveland and McGuire had stopped contributing to Subnautica 2. He also stated that both former executives were given the opportunity to return to their posts but declined the offer, and that Cleveland was specifically determined to pursue unrelated film projects.
Notably, Kim has repeatedly stated that Crafton would never have spent the original $500 million on Unknown Worlds in 2021 if he had known that the leadership team would allegedly try to leave their posts.
“There would be no deal,” Kim said when asked what would have happened if Cleveland had told him before the acquisition that it wanted to stop making video games.
Finally, Kim was asked whether Crafton would have given the trio operational control of Unknown Worlds if it had been known that Cleveland and McGuire would allegedly relinquish it. Subnautica 2. “The sole purpose of Unknown Worlds is to create games. And if they don't make any games, I don't think there's any point for them to have any operational control. I don’t think I would give it to them,” he replied.
“I believed the fans would end up disappointed.”
Kim also questioned why Krafton is now allowing former executives to return to their positions. “These are people who rejected our offer to return to their post. So why they want to return now and what they are going to do, I'm not sure about that,” he continued.
“And currently the development team is quite stabilized and they are working seriously on development. So I'm concerned about their potential comeback if they come back. And thirdly, trust, I think, has already been broken, so I don't think we're in a position where we're ready or able to work with them again.”
As for Subnautica 2 was scheduled to launch in early access in 2025, according to the former management team. Kim said that Krafton probably could have achieved some sales if it had continued with the original plan, but suggested that the game lacked “freshness” in its current form.
“Because fans already had high hopes for the sequel, there might have been some sales early on,” Kim continued. “But due to the lack of content and freshness, I thought fans would end up disappointed. And if that's the case, it would actually have a big impact on the future of the franchise, that's what I was thinking.”
Kim's testimony echoes the following statement Crafton made when contacted for comment on the case:
“We are currently undergoing legal proceedings to prove that all decisions we made were aimed at providing the best possible experience for our players. As we have made clear, we were forced to make changes when former leaders showed little interest in development Subnautica 2which has always been our top priority,” a Krafton spokesperson said.
“This lawsuit now boils down to the plaintiffs asking to be reinstated to a job they did not perform, claiming they are not interested in it, and having previously denied requests that they return and do the work. We look forward to continuing to present our evidence before the judge and are confident that we will prevail and be allowed to continue our incredible progress.”
The trial will continue until November 19, 2025, after which both sides will file post-trial briefings. A post-trial hearing is scheduled for January 9, 2026. The court's decision will follow.
