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Earlier this month, the founders of Unknown Worlds–the studio behind Subnautica and its upcoming sequel, Subnautica 2–were reportedly forced out of the studio by parent company Krafton. Now, it’s being alleged that Krafton’s decision to delay Subnautica 2 into 2026 could cost developer Unknown Worlds’ team a $250 million bonus.
According to Bloomberg, Unknown Worlds’ ousted leaders–Subnautica director and designer Charlie Cleveland, Unknown Worlds co-founder Max McGuire, and CEO Ted Gill–were against delaying Subnautica 2. Cleveland recently shared his belief that Subnautica 2 is ready for early-release now, which was the original plan for the game’s rollout this year.
Krafton was reportedly going to be on the hook for the $250 million bonus if Unknown Worlds reached revenue goals before the end of this year. But without Subnautica 2’s early access release, those numbers are likely to fall short of those targets.
The report indicates that Unknown Worlds’ former leaders planned to share the bonus with all of the studio’s employees. Steve Papoutsis–the new CEO of Unknown Worlds–was reportedly asked about the bonus at a town hall meeting. Papoutsis is said to have replied that he wasn’t told anything about the bonus and wasn’t aware if it had been a factor in the
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