Long before the release of Subnautica 2, the studio Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton had made headlines due to a legal dispute. That dispute has now come to an end.
In the months leading up to the release ofSubnautica 2, the focus was often not on the game itself, but on the escalating dispute between the lead developers and their publisher, Krafton. Krafton had fired the executives at Unknown Worlds, alleging they weren’t doing their jobs. In response, Krafton was accused of taking this action solely to avoid paying a hefty bonus of $250 million.
The matter eventually went to court and has been under trial in recent months. A previous ruling had already required Krafton toreinstate studio head Ted Gilland cast the publisher in a very unfavorable light. Now, the dispute appears to have been settled once and for all.
Bonus Coming, Boss Going
AsBloomberg reports,Krafton and the executives at Unknown Worlds have now reached an agreement. According to Ted Gill, significantly higher bonuses than originally agreed upon will now be paid out. The payments will also go to all Unknown Worlds developers, not just the employees who were already part of the studio at the time of Krafton’s acquisition.
Gill has also announced that he is stepping down from his role as CEO of Unknown Worlds and leaving the studio, after regaining his job in March via a court order. The studio is now set to get a completely new CEO who is not part of either Unknown Worlds or Krafton.
The fact that the Subnautica developers are now receiving the bonus after all is thanks to the court, but likely also to the enormous success of Subnautica 2.
Originally, the deal between Krafton and Unknown Worlds stipulated that the bonus would only be paid out if Subnautica 2 reached certain revenue targets by the end of 2025. However, the court then extended the deadline to September 15, 2026. Subnautica 2 had already sold over 4 million copies just one week after its Early Access release in May 2026—a huge success: It’s quite possible that this also surpassed the threshold for the bonus payments, forcing Krafton to finally back down.
The story of Subnautica 2 continues, of course—hopefully without any further court involvement. After all, the game is still in the very early stages of a lengthy Early Access phase and is set to receive entirely new story chapters, monsters, and areas to explore. So far, there has only been one major update; you can read about what’s included in the box above. We’ll also share our thoughts on the survival game so far in our review.
