Krafton Extends $25M Bonus Offer to Subnautica 2 Team Amid Legal Dispute

Subnautica 2 (Image Credit: Krafton/Unknown Worlds)

Krafton has now reportedly agreed to extend a $25 million bonus payout for the Subnautica 2 development team—Unknown Worlds—an apparent effort to calm growing unrest within the studio.

Back in 2021, Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds, the creators of the hit underwater survival game Subnautica, for $500 million. As part of that deal, Krafton had promised an additional $250 million in 2026, contingent on the studio hitting specific revenue goals by the end of 2025. But with Subnautica 2 now delayed until 2026, and the sudden firing of three key executives—co-founders Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill, and Max McGuire—the original timeline was thrown into chaos.

Krafton insisted these terminations had nothing to do with finances. Instead, they claimed the leadership team had “abandoned” their responsibilities, prompting the company to install Steve Papoutsis (formerly of Striking Distance) as the new CEO. That move didn’t go over quietly—especially since internal tensions spilled out publicly, including statements from Cleveland and a leaked internal development document.

As workers voiced growing concerns over their future and finances, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that Krafton finally responded with a shift in tone. “When Krafton said earlier this month that it planned to push back the game’s release, employees feared that it wouldn’t be possible to hit those targets and that their potential earnings would disappear,” Schreier explained.

To address those concerns, Krafton is now extending the bonus schedule through the end of 2026, giving the developers more time to meet the performance targets originally tied to the $250 million "earnout."

That bonus pool includes $25 million to be split among around 40 developers, though the actual amounts vary significantly—some in the six- or seven-figure range. The rest of the team will receive unspecified bonuses this year, effectively getting an early cut of what was initially planned for 2026.

To put it in perspective, this new $25 million offer is just one-tenth of the originally promised $250 million, most of which was reportedly for the former leadership team. According to Bloomberg, those ousted executives had even planned to share some of their $225 million cut with the wider studio staff.

The legal complaint from the former leadership accuses Krafton of breach of contract and unfairly terminating them just before the payout trigger. Cleveland himself stated on Reddit that the team believed Subnautica 2 was “ready for early access,” but ultimately, “the decision is in Krafton's hands.”

At this point, it looks like Krafton is trying to put out fires. Whether this $25 million bonus extension is an act of goodwill or just smart damage control remains up for debate. But one thing is clear: this legal and financial tug-of-war isn’t over.