Subnautica 2 has offered so effectively that writer Krafton has reportedly agreed to pay a $250 million earnout to the builders — a bonus that was on the coronary heart of its high-profile authorized dispute with the fired Unknown Worlds management.
The underwater journey has offered a mammoth 4 million copies since its early entry launch on Might 14, attaining greater than 467,000 peak concurrent gamers on Steam. However its growth was turbulent, with Krafton firing Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and different senior crew members in the summertime of final yr. On the time, Krafton stated the sport’s launch had additionally been delayed — one thing it blamed on Gill — though its crew had been working in the direction of an early entry launch that would have seen them eligible for that $250 million bonus.
Gill and his former teammates instantly launched a lawsuit towards Krafton, suggesting they had been ousted to keep away from that bonus being paid, whereas Krafton hit again and stated the workers had “resorted to litigation to demand a multimillion-dollar payout they have not earned.” Krafton additionally accused the workers it fired of getting stolen paperwork in anticipation of subsequent authorized motion, muddying the waters over their exit.
In March, Krafton was ordered to reinstate Gill and prolong the proposed $250 million bonus to workers in one of the dramatic authorized rulings the online game business has ever seen. And immediately, experiences popping out of the South Korean enterprise press point out that Krafton has now agreed to pay the bonus.
In accordance to estimates from Alinea Analytics, Subnautica 2 generated $100 million in only a week, and is is 2026’s fastest-selling Steam sport to date. The (*2*) stated Krafton now faces that $250 million invoice after agreeing to pay $3.12 for each $1, or up to $250 million, to Unknown Worlds’ former shareholders each time the studio’s income topped $69.8 million a month for the reason that Korean sport developer acquired the U.S. agency in 2021. $250 million is equal to about 35% of Krafton’s working revenue final yr.
IGN has requested Krafton for remark.
The authorized battle between Krafton and the Unknown Worlds shareholders revealed numerous stunning revelations across the South Korean firm’s inside actions within the run up to Subnautica 2’s launch. For instance, as inside projections confirmed Subnautica 2 seemed heading in the right direction to set off the earnout, Krafton’s chief govt, Changhan Kim, believed it was a “dangerous deal” and felt “taken benefit of,” in accordance to the ruling.
Kim was warned by his authorized division that the earnout would nonetheless want to be paid even when there was a “dismissal with trigger” of the Unknown Worlds’ management: co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire and chief govt Ted Gill. He was additionally warned it could expose Krafton to “lawsuit and fame threat.”
Kim then turned to ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot constructed by OpenAI, for assist, vice-chancellor Lori Will of the court docket of chancery in Delaware stated within the ruling. ChatGPT initially responded that the earnout can be “tough to cancel,” however later, at ChatGPT’s suggestion, Kim fashioned an inside taskforce, dubbed Undertaking X. “The duty pressure’s mandate was to both negotiate a ‘deal’ on the earnout or execute a ‘Take Over’ of Unknown Worlds,” Will acknowledged. “They seemed to purchase time.”
“Over the following month, Krafton adopted most of ChatGPT’s suggestions,” Will wrote.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.