With Subnautica 2‘s Early Access launch already having become quite successful, it looks like Krafton will be forced to pay developer Unknown Worlds hefty $250 million bonus. According to Korea Economic Daily, the bonus would account for around 35 percent of Krafton’s operating profit for the previous year.
The bonus is slated to be part of Krafton’s agreement for when it purchased Unknown Worlds all the way back in 2021. As part of this deal, the company had agreed to pay the studio’s former shareholders 3.12 for every $1 made up to $250 million based on Unknown Worlds’ performance, assuming the developer was able to bring in revenues of $69.8 million a month.
This acquisition deal had been the subject of major tensions between Krafton and the leadership of Unknown Worlds. In July last year, the company had said that Subnautica 2 was originally slated for an Early Access launch in 2024, and blamed “lack of leadership” at the developer for the delay.
Noting that the $250 million compensation would have gone to the three co-founders of Unknown Worlds – Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire – the publisher said that the deal was signed “with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2.”
“However, regrettably, the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them. Subnautica 2 was originally planned for an Early Access launch in early 2024, but the timeline has since been significantly delayed.”
This inevitably caused quite a few back-and-forths between the co-founders and Krafton, even leading to a lawsuit. Among the accusations levied at Krafton was the fact that its CEO, Changham Kim, was “desperate” to avoid paying out the promised bonuses to the studio and even resorted to asking ChatGPT for advice.
“Desperate to avoid such a professional embarrassment, Kim obsessed over finding a way to avoid Krafton’s obligation to pay the earn-out,” reads a pre-trial brief filed by lawyers representing Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire back in November. “[Krafton’s global head of corporate development, Maria Park] told Kim that ‘it seems to be highly likely that the earn-out will still be paid if the sales goal is achieved, regardless of the dismissal with cause.’ Kim turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earn-out. ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earn-out.’ But Kim was undeterred.”
The lawsuit has since been settled, however, with a Delaware Chancery Court judge reinstating Gill as the CEO of Unknown Worlds. “Judgment is entered in favor of Fortis [which represents the Unknown Worlds founders] on its Phase One claims,” stated vice chancellor Lori W. Will. “Krafton breached the EPA by terminating the Key Employees without valid Cause and by improperly seizing operational control of Unknown Worlds.”
In the meantime, Subnautica 2 came out on PC and Xbox Series X/S as an Early Access title, and Unknown Worlds has already started bringing in improvements to the survival crafting game. A hotfix released earlier this week, for instance, brought in buffs for Silver and Troilite drops and nerfed Hammerheads.