Krafton settles Subnautica 2 lawsuit

Krafton has reached a settlement to end its months-long legal battle with former Unknown Worlds executives. As part of the agreement, Ted Gill has stepped down as CEO once again, and the developers of Subnautica 2 will receive significantly increased bonus payouts.

As reported by Bloomberg, Krafton will now pay bonuses to the entire staff at Unknown Worlds, not just the executives and original employees covered under the 2021 acquisition agreement. Gill confirmed in an interview that he has departed the company following the settlement, saying: “We mutually agreed to part ways. New leadership is the best way for the studio to move forward.”

The dispute began last year, when Krafton fired Gill and studio co‑founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire. The executives claimed the dismissals were an attempt to avoid paying a $250 million earn‑out bonus tied to Subnautica 2’s performance. Krafton argued the firings were due to “neglect of duties” and delays to the game. The situation escalated into a lawsuit, culminating in a Delaware judge ruling earlier this year that Krafton had breached its contract and must reinstate Gill as CEO.

Under the new settlement, Subnautica 2 developers will be “compensated significantly more” than originally planned, with additional incentives as the game continues to be updated. The bonus structure has also been expanded to include all current staff, even those who joined after the acquisition. Payments will be made in three annual instalments.

After an unfortunate delay last year, Subnautica 2 released via Steam Early Access on May and has already gone on to sell over 4 million copies. That number will likely continue to grow as major content updates drop.

KitGuru Says: Have you played Subnautica 2 since launch? 

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