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The Verge
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Krafton slams ex-Subnautica 2 execs and claims it'll give developers their ‘promised' reward
Subnautica 2 has been at the center of a contentious debate between leadership at its developer Unknown Worlds and the game's publisher, Krafton Games. At stake is a $250 million payout, promised to Unknown Worlds if the studio hit certain revenue targets by the end of this year. But a company shakeup and the subsequent delay of Subnautica 2 has rocked the studio and potentially imperiled the promised payout. On July 2nd, Krafton announced that Steve Papoutsis, CEO of The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios would be taking over as the CEO of Unknown Worlds, replacing the current leadership of Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire with immediate effect. The following week, on July 9th, Unknown Worlds announced that early access for Subnautica 2 would be delayed to 2026. According to the announcement, Subnautica 2 was in good shape, but closed testing revealed 'some insight that there are a few areas where we needed to improve before launching the first version of Subnautica 2 to the world.' That same day, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported that this delay was against the wishes of Unknown Worlds' former leadership and that there were serious financial implications for this delay. According to Schreier's report, when Krafton purchased Unknown Worlds, in 2021 it promised a $250 million bonus to the studio if it hit revenue targets by the end of 2025. Schreier's reporting also indicated that the bonus was planned to be shared among the studio's roughly 100 employees with some being promised bonuses in the seven figures. With Subnautica 2's delay, those revenue targets will likely not be hit, and those bonuses not paid out. In a statement to Bloomberg, Krafton said the delay was only to improve Subnautica 2's quality, and it's possible to envision a situation where Krafton delayed the game in order to get out of paying out the bonus. However, Krafton has issued a new statement that seemingly throws cold water over this interpretation. The statement says that Krafton had 'allocated approximately 90% of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to the three former executives' with the 'expectation' that the executives would 'demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2.' The statement then accuses the ousted leadership of essentially abandoning development on the game while affirming 'fair and equitable compensation for all remaining Unknown Worlds employees.' Here's the statement in full, which you can also see on Krafton's website. To Our 12 Million Fellow Subnauts, — Inevitable Leadership Change Driven by Project Abandonment–Despite Holding 90% of Earnout for Themselves First and foremost, we sincerely thank you for your continued support, passion, and unwavering dedication to Subnautica. We wish to provide clarity on the recent leadership changes at Unknown Worlds, a creative studio under KRAFTON. Background of Leadership Change KRAFTON deeply values Subnautica's unique creativity and immersive world-building. To provide fans with even better gaming experiences, we acquired Unknown Worlds, fully committed to supporting Subnautica's future success. We collaborated closely with the studio's leadership, who were central to the creation of the original Subnautica, to foster the optimal environment for a successful Subnautica 2. Specifically, in addition to the initial $500 million purchase price, we allocated approximately 90% of the up to $250 million earn-out compensation to the three former executives, with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of Subnautica 2. However, regrettably, the former leadership abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them. Subnautica 2 was originally planned for an Early Access launch in early 2024, but the timeline has since been significantly delayed. KRAFTON made multiple requests to Charlie and Max to resume their roles as Game Director and Technical Director, respectively, but both declined to do so. In particular, following the failure of Moonbreaker, KRAFTON asked Charlie to devote himself to the development of Subnautica 2. However, instead of participating in the game development, he chose to focus on a personal film project. KRAFTON believes that the absence of core leadership has resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project current Early Access version also falls short in terms of content are deeply disappointed by the former leadership's conduct, and above all, we feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans. KRAFTON's Full Support for the Dedicated Development Team To uphold our commitment to provide you with the best possible gaming experience, we made the difficult yet necessary decision to change the executive leadership. Subnautica 2 has been and continues to be actively developed by a dedicated core team who share genuine passion, accountability, and commitment to the game. We deeply respect their expertise and creativity and will continue to provide full and unwavering support, enabling them to focus solely on delivering the exceptional game you deserve. KRAFTON's Commitment to its Promises in Rewarding Employees Additionally, KRAFTON has committed to fair and equitable compensation for all remaining Unknown Worlds employees who have continuously and tirelessly contributed to Subnautica 2's development. We believe that the dedication and effort of this team are at the very heart of Subnautica's ongoing evolution, and we reaffirm our commitment to provide the rewards they were promised. Fans will always remain at the center of every decision we make at KRAFTON. Moving forward, we promise transparent communication and continued efforts to sustainably develop and expand the beloved Subnautica universe. Honoring your trust and expectations is a core tenet at KRAFTON. We are committed to repaying your patience with an even more refined and exceptional gaming experience.
Metro
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Subnautica 2 delayed so publisher can avoid paying devs a bonus claims report
A surprise change in leadership and a delay in its release date now haunt Subnautica 2. The most wishlisted Steam game right now is, unsurprisingly, the ever-elusive Hollow Knight: Silksong. In second place, however, is not something super mainstream like Resident Evil Requiem or Borderlands 4, but underwater survival game Subnautica 2. Clearly, the Steam community really enjoyed the original Subnautica from 2018 (as did we) and is very excited for its sequel. Much like the first game, developer Unknown Worlds intended to launch Subnautica 2 in early access, with a 2025 date confirmed at an Xbox event last year. However, publisher Krafton (the South Korean company best known for battle royale PUBG Battlegrounds) has opted to push the game into 2026 and while it says this is because it needs extra development time, the company has been accused of having ulterior motives that involve avoiding paying bonuses to Subnautica 2's staff. It has been an incredibly hectic couple of weeks for Unknown Worlds, which Krafton acquired in 2021, a few months after the release of spin-off game Subnautica: Below Zero. Last week, out of nowhere, Krafton announced it had replaced Unknown Worlds' leadership team – including Subnautica director Charlie Cleveland – with Steve Papoutsis taking over as the new CEO while still maintaining his position as CEO of The Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios. No real reason was given for the sudden change in leadership, with Krafton only saying it was for the sake of 'delivering the best possible game for the Subnautica community.' Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. This is also why Subnautica 2's early access launch is being delayed to 2026; a decision that was made shortly after the leadership change, according to a Bloomberg report. Yet according to a lengthy Reddit post by Cleveland (who described his removal from Unknown Worlds as 'quite a shock'), Subnautica 2 is 'ready for early access release,' implying there's no need for a delay. According to Bloomberg, Krafton's decision also happens to come a few months before it was meant to pay Unknown Worlds' staff a $250 million (£184 million) bonus. When Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds, its purchase agreement stated this bonus would be awarded if the studio met certain revenue targets by the end of 2025. If Unknown Worlds managed to achieve this, the plan was for the bonus to be shared among all 100 members of the studio, with Bloomberg's sources claiming staff were eligible for bonuses for upwards of seven figures. With Subnautica 2's early access launch delayed, however, it's far less likely that Unknown Worlds will reach those revenue targets, which according to Bloomberg has prompted allegations that the delay is an effort by Krafton to get out of paying staff the extra $250 million. More Trending Bloomberg adds that staff questioned Papoutsis about this during a company town hall meeting. Papoutsis said: 'It's never been told to me that we're making this change specifically to impact any earnout or anything like that,' insisting Krafton simply didn't think Subnautica 2 was ready to launch this year. In a separate statement, Krafton itself has denied any such allegations, saying the decision 'was not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations.' Even so, fan response has been negative. Top posts on the Subnautica subreddit are overwhelmingly critical of Krafton, with some asking fellow fans that they remove Subnautica 2 from their wishlist and refuse to buy the game once it launches. A new gameplay trailer that dropped last night is also inundated with demands that Krafton give Unknown Worlds' staff their bonuses, although its like/dislike ratio is favourable, with 55,000 likes compared to 6,300 dislikes. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Hi-Fi Rush 2 looks likely as former Xbox studio Tango Gameworks is revived by Krafton MORE: The Sims clone inZOI is set to be the surprise hit of 2025 MORE: The Callisto Protocol was released too early and content was cut says director
The Verge
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Did PUBG owner Krafton just delay Subnautica 2 and fire execs so it wouldn't have to pay $250 million to devs?
Posted Jul 9, 2025 at 8:19 PM UTC Did PUBG owner Krafton just delay Subnautica 2 and fire execs so it wouldn't have to pay $250 million to devs? That is the unanswered question in Jason Schreier's latest for Bloomberg , which reveals the existence of a $250 million bonus if the game met sales targets this year — and that the ousted bosses of developer Unknown Worlds were planning to share it with staff. New studio head Steve Papoutsis told employees he was unaware of the bonus, and that Krafton had simply decided the game wasn't ready to ship.
