A new report seems to confirm what has felt like an inevitability since before it launched, that Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds will indeed be getting its $250 million bonus from its parent company, Krafton. The same bonus that Krafton's CEO tried (and failed) to find a way out of paying by using ChatGPT to guide him through what quickly became a very public and messy legal battle over the past year.
Spotted by IGN, a report from The Korean Economic Daily citing its own sources claims that Krafton has agreed to pay the $250M bonus, after Subnautica 2 launched and was an instant hit, selling an estimated 4M copies and generating $100M in revenue.
The whole debacle between Krafton and the Unknown Worlds founders first began in July 2025, when Krafton fired Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire, the original founders of Unknown Worlds and creators of the Subnautica franchise. Krafton claimed the decision was made as part of its efforts to deliver a Subnautica 2 game that fans of the series deserved, though just two days after the firing, a lengthy statement from Cleveland made it clear there was much more to the story.
Days after Cleveland's statement, a report from Bloomberg revealed what would become the focal point of the story, the $250M bonus that Unknown Worlds would be owed once the Subnautica franchise reached a certain sales milestone within a certain timeline. Krafton knew that if Subnautica 2 had launched last year when it was initially scheduled to, Unknown Worlds would more than reach that milestone, and Krafton would be forced to pay the bonus.
Shortly after the Bloomberg report, Krafton confirmed that Subnautica 2 had been delayed, denying that the decision to delay its launch had anything to do with the bonus. Krafton even followed that up by blaming the delay directly on the founders, claiming they "abandoned" their responsibilities in Subnautica 2's development in an attempt to justify their firing. A lawsuit was filed by Cleveland and his fellow co-founders against Krafton that same day.
A little more than a week after the co-founders were fired, that legal battle and nearly a year of public mudslinging on both sides would begin, with allegations and additional suits flying against both sides, before a ruling in February 2026 sided with the co-founders, demanding that they be reinstated and confirming that Krafton's CEO had been using ChatGPT to try and find a way to avoid the payout.
A May 2026 release window was confirmed a day after the judge ordered that Ted Gill was to be reinstated as Unknown Worlds CEO, with its May 14 date confirmation coming later. With over 5 million wishlists ahead of launch, it was clear Subnautica 2 would be a hit, making this outcome feel all the more inevitable.
For more on Subnautica 2, check out everything we learned from Unknown Worlds in a preview ahead of the game's release, and our guides on early tips and tricks for newcomers, how to find key resources like silver, and how to craft items like the all-important Tadpole.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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