The corporate has been attempting to weasel out of constructing this cost for some time now.
Subnautica 2 is promoting like hotcakes, regardless of being an unfinished early access release. Individuals have been so determined for good old school underwater exploration that the sport has already bought a minimum of 4 million copies. Because of this writer Krafton has to lastly make good on its promise to pay devs a $250 million bonus, according to a report by IGN.
This bonus has been on the coronary heart of a authorized battle between Krafton and developer Unknown Worlds. Krafton purchased Unknown Worlds again in 2021 and the contract stipulated that executives and employees would get to share in a $250 million bonus in the event that they hit sure income targets. In line with the South Korean enterprise press, these targets have been hit and the payout is likely forthcoming.
This wasn’t always assured. The builders missed the unique income goal window of 2025 as a result of Krafton delayed the game to avoid making the payout. In line with a pre-trial brief, Krafton CEO Changham Kim allegedly nixed the payout as a result of it will be a “skilled embarrassment” and make him seem like a “pushover.” The corporate additionally fired the CEO of Unknown Worlds and different co-founders earlier than a judge forced it to reverse course.
It is 2026, so after all there’s additionally a bizarre AI part to the story. It has been reported that CEO Kim turned to ChatGPT for concepts as to easy methods to keep away from paying out that bonus. Even the chatbot stated it will be “troublesome to cancel the earnout.” Nonetheless, the penny-pinching CEO and his AI bestie ultimately got here up with one thing referred to as Mission X, which was some sort of convoluted plan to both negotiate a decrease bonus quantity to take over Unknown Worlds.
“They regarded to purchase time,” vice-chancellor Lori Will of the courtroom of chancery in Delaware stated in a ruling. “Over the subsequent month, Krafton adopted most of ChatGPT’s suggestions.”
That did not work, and right here we’re. Subnautica 2 is definitely accessible to play, after years of ready. In the meantime, Krafton has introduced its transformation into an “AI first” company. Good luck with that.
