Krafton Will Pay $250M Bonus To Subnautica 2 Devs

Following internal issues between developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment (UWE) and publisher Krafton, Subnautica 2 has been issued to the public and Steam has broken the record for fastest player count. Many immediately believed Crafton would pay UWE the $250 million in earnings it had already agreed to, and now it has reportedly agreed to do the same.

Since its early access launch on May 14, Subnautica 2 Reportedly sold 4 million copies, but it wasn't certain if it would make it to a proper Early Access release. In summer 2025, Krafton fired UWE CEO Ted Gill, along with other senior staff members, and delayed the game itself. What followed was a very public lawsuit where Krafton allegedly used ChatGPT to try to get out of a $250m earnings deal and claimed it was undermining/undermining UWE. Subnautica 2Pushing back against all that at UWE.

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Big Payday for Subnautica 2 Devs

Now, with Subnautica 2The projection is potentially larger than it could be at one point, Krafton has agreed to pay the alleged earnings (according to IGN and South Korean business reports). Neither Crafton nor UWE have commented publicly on the earnings, and it's uncertain whether any will, given the recent litigation. But release Subnautica 2 And the reported victory for the devs follows Gill's return to UWE.

Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.

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This comes as no surprise Subnautica 2 Making $100 million on its own in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling Steam game of 2026. The Korean Economic Daily also reported that Crafton's deal was to pay former shareholders $3.12 for every $1 generated, or up to $250 million. at UWE in 2021. It also notes that $250 is roughly equivalent to 35% of Crafton's operating profit in 2025.

Krafton Releases Official Response to Former Subnautica 2 Devs Issue

It remains to be seen how the business relationship between developer and publisher will develop from here, but it is worth noting that this issue and release comes at a crucial time for Krafton, to say nothing of UWE. Obviously, the release of Subnautica 2 That's a big deal, but somehow Crafton's pivot has trumped the AI-first company. In October 2025, Krafton's CEO committed the company to becoming AI-first, significantly changing operations and offering developers buyouts to leave the studio. Crafton's AI ambitions may or may not be intact yet, and it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. To be clear, Crafton may have AI-first ambitions, but unknown world entertainment doesn't. UWE explains Subnautica 2 Did not use generative AI in development for writing, art, or game design.

Drag the arms to fill the grid

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Overall, most fans will be focused Subnautica 2the future of This is just an early access launch, and Subnautica 2Co's roadmap includes quality-of-life improvements, improvements to the co-op/multiplayer components, and major expansions to its core content. Across, it's like Subnautica 2 continues to sell well and has a strong presence in the gaming world.