Judge Slams Subnautica 2 Publisher Krafton in Victory for Fired Workers, Orders Company Reinstate Boss and Extend $250 Million Bonus

Krafton has been ordered to reinstate the former boss of Subnautica 2 studio Unknown Worlds and extend its employees’ proposed $250 million bonus, in a stunning legal judgment that strongly favors the game’s development staff.

Subnautica 2’s development has been mired in controversy since Krafton dramatically fired Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and other senior team members in the summer of last year. At the time, Krafton also said the game’s launch had also been delayed — something it blamed on Gill — even though its team had been working towards an early access release that would have seen them eligible for that $250 million bonus.

Gill and his former teammates immediately launched a lawsuit against Krafton, suggesting they were ousted to avoid that bonus being paid, while Krafton hit back and said the staff had “resorted to litigation to demand a multimillion-dollar payout they haven’t earned.” Krafton also accused the staff it fired of having stolen documents in anticipation of subsequent legal action, muddying the waters over their exit.

The resulting legal drama has led to the surfacing of several stunning claims, such as the suggestion that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim had used ChatGPT to “brainstorm ways to avoid paying” Unknown Worlds’ bonus, and that he had also discussed his idea for an Unknown Worlds company “takeover” plan via Slack. Krafton, meanwhile, suggested the ousted staff had “referenced racist views toward Korea and Korean people” — due to a note submitted by Owen Mahoney, the CEO and President of rival South Korean video game company Nexon.

Ultimately, however, the legal action has resulted in a win for Unknown Worlds. Krafton itself is yet to comment.

“Frustrated by the Key Employees’ refusal to forfeit operation control and facing a nine-figure liability, Krafton went searching for a pretext,” the judge wrote, slamming Krafton’s previous claims that Gill and others had “abandoned their responsibilities.”

“Krafton’s true focus in June 2025 was avoiding its financial exposure,” the judge wrote. “It knew Subnautica 2 was poised to achieve a $250 million earnout, which Kim viewed as a catastrophic failure. Krafton undertook ‘Project X’ to either force a deal on the earnout or execute a ‘takeover’ of the studio. Terminating the Founders was one tactic explored and ultimately chosen by Krafton to accomplish its goal.”

As for Subnautica 2 itself? Developer Unknown Worlds recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at an all-new deep-sea predator, and “how the team has used Unreal Engine 5 AI for lifelike behavior, real-time reactions and tense encounters for player.” The 10-minute vlog is one of the first development updates we’ve had since the legal wrangling began last year.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social