The former creative director at Unknown Worlds described their departure as "quite a shock"

Former creative leader and co-founder of Unknown Worlds, Charlie Cleveland, recently referred to his departure from the company as "quite a shock". Cleveland shared on the Subnautica subreddit that Subnautica 2 is "ready for early access release".

He expressed disappointment that he thought the timeline for the game's release was to be decided by him and the team but mentioned that, instead, "that decision is in Krafton's hands". Cleveland remarked on his feelings about leaving the company he founded by stating, "After all these years, to find that I'm no longer able to work at the company I started stings."

He further emphasized that their enduring commitment has always been to create an exceptional game for a dedicated community. On July 2, Krafton announced a reshuffle in the developer’s executive team, naming Steve Papoutis as the new CEO. This change followed the exit of CEO Ted Gill and CTO and co-founder Max McGuire.

While Krafton did not elaborate on these executive changes, they emphasized wanting to maintain the involvement of the original creators of the Subnautica series in the development of Subnautica 2. Unknown Worlds was established by Cleveland and McGuire in 2001, and was acquired by Krafton in 2021 for an undisclosed amount.