How Subnautica 2’s Record Sales Forced Krafton to Pay a $250 Million Bonus It Tried to Dodge With ChatGPT

Timeline

Picture the boardroom of a multi-billion-dollar gaming publisher. A CEO sits before a computer screen, typing a question into ChatGPT: “How do I avoid paying a $250 million bonus to the developers I just acquired?” The chatbot responds that it would be “difficult to cancel.” Undeterred, the executive presses further, eventually walking away with a plan to fire the studio’s founders, delay its flagship game, and form a secret taskforce dubbed “Project X” to renegotiate the payout.

This is not a fictional screenplay. It is the true story of Krafton, the South Korean publisher behind PUBG: Battlegrounds, and its controversial attempt to escape an earnout clause written into the 2021 acquisition of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the studio behind Subnautica.

Fast forward to May 2026. Subnautica 2 launches into Early Access and becomes the fastest-selling Early Access game of the year, selling 4 million copies and generating an estimated $100 million in revenue in its first week. That explosive success triggers the exact clause Krafton had spent months trying to avoid. The result? The publisher must now pay the full $250 million bonus to the very developers it tried to undercut, a quarter-billion dollars that represents roughly 35% of Krafton’s 2025 operating profit. And the final ironic twist? Krafton has just rebranded as an “AI-first” company, while the team behind Subnautica 2 built the blockbuster without any generative AI assistance.

The Deal That Came Back to Bite, Understanding the $250 Million Earnout

In October 2021, Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds for an undisclosed upfront sum plus a performance-based earnout. According to court filings, the contract was clear: if Unknown Worlds’ monthly revenue exceeded $69.8 million by December 2025, Krafton would pay $3.12 for every dollar above that threshold, up to a maximum of $250 million. The bonus was designed to be shared among all roughly 100 employees, with individual payouts ranging from hundreds of thousands to seven figures.

At the time, the deal seemed reasonable. The original Subnautica had sold over 9 million copies, but mostly through word-of-mouth over several years. A sequel launching in Early Access in late 2025 seemed unlikely to generate that kind of monthly revenue. But as development progressed, Krafton’s leadership began to view the earnout as a “bad deal.” Court documents later revealed that CEO Changhan Kim felt the studio had “taken advantage” of Krafton during negotiations, a sentiment that set the stage for a series of actions that would later be deemed legally questionable.

The Evasion Attempt, Firing Founders, ChatGPT, and a Secret Taskforce

In July 2025, Krafton fired Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire. The company replaced them with new management and pushed Subnautica 2’s Early Access release from 2025 into 2026. The ousted leaders immediately sued, alleging that Krafton was deliberately sabotaging the game’s launch to avoid triggering the earnout.

What emerged during the legal proceedings was even more damning. Emails and internal documents obtained by the court showed that Kim had turned to ChatGPT for advice on how to void the payout. The AI initially said it would be “difficult to cancel” the bonus, but later helped Kim brainstorm alternative strategies. Those strategies coalesced into “Project X”, a secret taskforce tasked with negotiating a lower bonus or, failing that, executing a “Take Over” of Unknown Worlds to gain control of its assets.

In March 2026, a Delaware Chancery Court ruled against Krafton, finding that the company had acted in bad faith. Vice Chancellor Lori Will ordered Krafton to reinstate Ted Gill as CEO and extended the earnout deadline to September 15, 2026. The court’s decision gave Unknown Worlds the runway it needed to release Subnautica 2 on its own terms, and the game would soon make the earnout clause an unavoidable reality.

Subnautica 2’s Record-Shattering Launch Triggers the Payout

Subnautica 2 launched into Early Access on May 14, 2026, priced at $29.99 on PC and Xbox Series X|S, with a day-one release on Game Pass. The response was immediate and overwhelming. The game sold 1 million copies in its first hour, 2 million in 12 hours, and over 4 million within its first week. Steam concurrent player counts peaked above 467,000, and the game earned a “Very Positive” rating from 91% of user reviews.

Industry analysts at Alinea Analytics estimated first-week revenue at $100 million, far exceeding the $69.8 million monthly threshold. The earnout clause was triggered, making Krafton liable for the full $250 million.

Had Krafton not interfered, the game might have launched in 2025 as originally planned, but the delay and legal battle actually pushed it into a window where its success was even more pronounced. The irony was not lost on observers: the very tactics meant to avoid the bonus ended up ensuring its payment, and at a higher cost due to legal fees and reputational damage.

Per a report in the Korea Economic Daily dated May 27, 2026, Krafton has now agreed to honor the earnout. With no legal escape route remaining, the publisher is reportedly preparing to distribute the $250 million to former shareholders and, through them, to the developers who made Subnautica 2 happen.

The Ironic Twist, AI-First Publisher vs. AI-Free Developers

Just weeks before Subnautica 2’s launch, Krafton announced a major strategic pivot: the company would transform itself into an “AI-first” organization, investing heavily in generative AI for future game development. The announcement cast Krafton as a forward-thinking tech leader ready to leverage machine learning for everything from procedural content to narrative generation.

Meanwhile, Unknown Worlds made its own stance clear. The developers stated publicly that Subnautica 2 used no generative AI for writing, art, or game design. Every coral reef, every creature, every line of dialogue came from human hands and human creativity.

Now, the $250 million bonus, the very sum Krafton tried to dodge using ChatGPT, will flow to the roughly 100 developers who built the hit game without AI assistance. Krafton, which attempted to use an AI chatbot to find a loophole, is paying a quarter-billion dollars to the people who proved that great games are still made by people, not algorithms.

A Quarter-Billion Dollar Lesson for Corporate Greed

The Subnautica 2 saga is more than a cautionary tale about trying to cheat your own employees. It is a stark reminder that in the video game industry, quality wins. Krafton’s attempt to undermine Unknown Worlds nearly destroyed a beloved franchise, but the court’s intervention and the developers’ determination produced one of the year’s biggest successes.

The story also raises uncomfortable questions about the role of AI in corporate decision-making. Consulting a chatbot for legal advice on contract avoidance is not just ethically dubious, it also provides a documented paper trail that can be used against you in court. As more publishers race to embrace generative AI, they would do well to remember that algorithms lack judgment, ethics, and accountability.

Looking ahead, this case may reshape how earnout clauses are written. Industry lawyers expect future contracts to include explicit anti-sabotage provisions, and the Delaware ruling could serve as precedent for courts to penalize bad-faith behavior by acquirers. For now, the developers at Unknown Worlds can take satisfaction in knowing that their craft, and their legal victory, forced one of the industry’s biggest publishers to pay up. The $250 million is a reward not just for a great game, but for standing up to corporate overreach. And as Krafton pivots to an AI-driven future, the message is clear: great games are still built by people, not prompted by a chatbot.

Sources: Court filings from Unknown Worlds Entertainment vs. Krafton Inc., Delaware Chancery Court; Alinea Analytics revenue estimates; Korea Economic Daily report (May 27, 2026); Krafton corporate announcements.