Subnautica 2 Leak Confirms Content Cuts Behind 2026 Delay

Krafton has confirmed that a leaked internal presentation — first reported by Kotaku — is real, and it paints a clearer picture of why Subnautica 2 has been delayed to 2026 and why the studio’s leadership was removed. In their official statement to PC Gamer, the publisher says the document was part of a “milestone review,” and it shows that the game’s early access version was falling short in key areas: missing biomes, a cut vehicle, dropped features, and hours of narrative content taken out.

This follows two earlier updates we’ve covered: the studio shake-up in Krafton Accuses Subnautica 2’s Former Leaders of Betrayal and Abandonment and the confirmation that Subnautica 2 Early Access Delayed to 2026. Now, the leaked document adds fuel to both.

The first slide of the internal review states that while Subnautica 2 “includes a variety of content,” it “lacks the freshness and volume expected of a sequel.” This aligns with Krafton’s decision to delay the game and replace top studio heads Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill, and Max McGuire — a move that stunned the community and sparked backlash across Reddit and social media.

On the second slide, things get specific. Compared to the original early access plan outlined in 2023, the May 2025 version of the game had two fewer biomes, one missing leviathan-class creature, a scrapped game mode, a cut vehicle, and a delayed story arc that would have added roughly six hours of content. It’s a clear gap between what was promised and what was delivered.

"Compared to the originally planned EA launch specifications, the current target content volume has been reduced or adjusted across various elements such as biomes, creatures, equipment/progression, and features."

The document suggests this gap forced Krafton to “reassess the release timeline and roadmap.” In other words, Early Access wasn’t ready, and waiting until 2026 became the new plan. Krafton’s public statement emphasizes that such milestone reviews are a regular part of working with their creative studios and that they’re used to “define clear objectives” and maintain standards.

But that hasn’t calmed things down. Tensions between Krafton and the ousted developers are now in open view. Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire were directly named in Krafton’s earlier statement, which accused them of walking away from the project. The publisher said it felt “a profound sense of betrayal” and went as far as to claim that Cleveland prioritized a “personal film project” over Subnautica 2. That kind of blunt language is rare in public game industry disputes.

"We feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them."

Cleveland pushed back, stating that Subnautica 2 was ready for Early Access and that the delay wasn’t necessary. In a now-deleted Reddit post, some commenters claimed the developers had been fighting for a delay to finish the game properly, with Krafton insisting on sticking to a 2025 release. The leak suggests that’s not true — it was Krafton pushing against an unfinished build, not for an early launch.

Still, this leak doesn’t settle everything. Krafton’s assessments aren’t final judgments. Some developers believe what the publisher saw as “reduced content” may have been an intentional rescoping — cutting certain elements in favor of a tighter design. With Early Access games, it’s not unusual to ship a smaller slice and build up. The missing biomes and creatures could’ve been patched in over time.

But that’s not how Krafton saw it. They expected a certain scale from day one and didn’t get it. Whether their expectations were too high or Unknown Worlds mismanaged the roadmap is still a matter of perspective. What is clear is that the publisher’s trust in leadership broke completely.

Krafton is also trying to stabilize the situation publicly. After firing the leads, the company stressed that the rest of the development team remains unchanged. That message is aimed at fans who worry the game’s vision has been compromised. But this is a franchise with a history of identity tied closely to its original creators, and for many, that matters.

The situation now resembles the Disco Elysium fallout, where the original leads were pushed out and ownership took control of the project. That story ended in lawsuits and a fractured fanbase. In Subnautica’s case, we may be headed for the same path. Cleveland has already said the three ousted devs are filing a lawsuit against Krafton.

Whether Subnautica 2 survives this dispute with its creative vision intact is still unknown. But the confirmation of the leaked slides gives us a clearer view of how the 2026 delay came about — and why it led to such a public split. This isn’t just a matter of content volume. It’s about who gets to decide when a game is finished, and what promises are worth keeping.