Subnautica 2 Has Sold So Well That Krafton Has to Pay That $250 Million Earnout to the Devs

Subnautica 2 has sold truthful good that steadfast Krafton has reportedly agreed to wage a $250 cardinal earnout to the developers — a bonus that was astatine the bosom of its high-profile ineligible quality with the fired Unknown Worlds leadership.

The underwater escapade has sold a mammoth 4 cardinal copies since its aboriginal entree motorboat connected May 14, achieving much than 467,000 highest concurrent players connected Steam. But its improvement was turbulent, with Krafton firing Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and different elder squad members successful the summertime of past year. At the time, Krafton said the game's motorboat had besides been delayed — thing it blamed connected Gill — adjacent though its squad had been moving towards an aboriginal entree merchandise that would person seen them eligible for that $250 cardinal bonus.

Gill and his erstwhile teammates instantly launched a suit against Krafton, suggesting they were ousted to debar that bonus being paid, portion Krafton deed backmost and said the unit had "resorted to litigation to request a multimillion-dollar payout they haven't earned." Krafton besides accused the unit it fired of having stolen documents successful anticipation of consequent ineligible action, muddying the waters implicit their exit.

In March, Krafton was ordered to reinstate Gill and widen the projected $250 cardinal bonus to unit successful 1 of the astir melodramatic ineligible rulings the video crippled manufacture has ever seen. And today, reports coming retired of the South Korean concern property bespeak that Krafton has present agreed to wage the bonus.

According to estimates from Alinea Analytics, Subnautica 2 generated $100 cardinal successful conscionable a week, and is is 2026’s fastest-selling Steam crippled truthful far. The Korean Economic Daily said Krafton present faces that $250 cardinal measure aft agreeing to wage $3.12 for each $1, oregon up to $250 million, to Unknown Worlds’ erstwhile shareholders each clip the studio’s gross topped $69.8 cardinal a period since the Korean crippled developer acquired the U.S. steadfast successful 2021. $250 cardinal is equivalent to astir 35% of Krafton’s operating nett past year.

IGN has asked Krafton for comment.

The ineligible conflict betwixt Krafton and the Unknown Worlds shareholders revealed a fig of shocking revelations astir the South Korean company’s interior actions successful the tally up to Subnautica 2’s release. For example, arsenic interior projections showed Subnautica 2 looked connected people to trigger the earnout, Krafton’s main executive, Changhan Kim, believed it was a “bad deal” and felt “taken vantage of,” according to the ruling.

Kim was warned by his ineligible section that the earnout would inactive request to beryllium paid adjacent if determination was a “dismissal with cause” of the Unknown Worlds’ leadership: co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire and main enforcement Ted Gill. He was besides warned it would exposure Krafton to “lawsuit and estimation risk.”

Kim past turned to ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot built by OpenAI, for help, vice-chancellor Lori Will of the tribunal of chancery successful Delaware said successful the ruling. ChatGPT initially responded that the earnout would beryllium “difficult to cancel,” but later, astatine ChatGPT’s suggestion, Kim formed an interior taskforce, dubbed Project X. “The task force’s mandate was to either negociate a ‘deal’ connected the earnout oregon execute a ‘Take Over’ of Unknown Worlds,” Will stated. “They looked to bargain time.”

“Over the adjacent month, Krafton followed astir of ChatGPT’s recommendations,” Will wrote.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].