Subnautica 2 Devs Likely to Earn $250 Million Bonus

Subnautica 2, the long-awaited underwater survival sequel from Unknown Worlds Entertainment, launched into early access today and has already shattered expectations. Within just one hour of release, the game sold 1 million units , a staggering achievement that marks the end of a turbulent development cycle and an even more bizarre legal battle. At the center of that drama: publisher Krafton, whose CEO Changhan Kim allegedly turned to ChatGPT for advice on how to avoid paying a $250 million bonus to the very developers who built the game. That strategy, to put it mildly, appears to have backfired spectacularly.

The bonus was part of Krafton’s 2021 acquisition deal for Unknown Worlds. It was tied to the studio hitting specific revenue targets by the end of 2025. But when a delay , one that Unknown Worlds’ ousted founders claimed was forced upon them , made those targets nearly impossible to reach, the legal fireworks began. Earlier this year, a Delaware court intervened, ordering Krafton to rehire one of the founders, Ted Gill, and extend the bonus deadline to September 15, 2026 to compensate for the time Gill was not CEO. The founders also retain the option to push that deadline to March 2027, provided they notify Krafton in writing.

Curiously, by April, Krafton was no longer listed as Subnautica 2’s publisher on Steam. When reached by Polygon, a Krafton representative offered only a terse statement: “Krafton is currently focused on successfully supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2. We have nothing further to share at this time.”

So will the developers actually see that life-changing payout? Barring any last-minute legal maneuvers from Krafton or its AI-advised leadership, the answer increasingly looks like yes.

“Safe to say Krafton will be forced to pay out the $250 million bonus it tried very hard (via advice of ChatGPT) to avoid paying,” said Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who previously reviewed the purchase agreement containing the bonus clause.

In his 2025 report on the delay that sparked the lawsuit, Schreier revealed that Unknown Worlds’ leadership planned to share the bonus with all roughly 100 employees. Staff who were at the company at the time of the acquisition were told they could expect bonuses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to seven figures.

Given that context, it’s safe to assume the mood at Unknown Worlds right now is far better than at Krafton’s headquarters. And it’s a powerful reminder: never take legal advice from a chatbot.