Subnautica 2 has sold more than 4 million copies globally since its early access debut on May 14, 2026, driving Krafton to pay a $250 million earnout to Unknown Worlds, the game's developer [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The earnout stems from a clause in Krafton's 2021 acquisition of Unknown Worlds, which included a bonus tied to monthly revenue exceeding roughly $70 million. For every dollar earned above this threshold, Krafton owes Unknown Worlds $3.12, capped at $250 million total [1, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5].
Within its first week, Subnautica 2 generated about $100 million revenue, surpassing the trigger for the bonus payment. This milestone reflects the title's rapid commercial success and makes the payout roughly 35% of Krafton's 2025 operating profit, estimated at $736 million [1, 2, 3, 4].
Krafton initially resisted paying the earnout, firing Unknown Worlds cofounders, including CEO Ted Gill, and delaying the game's release during 2025, which led to a legal battle. A Delaware court ordered Krafton to reinstate Gill and honor the earnout agreement in March 2026. Vice-chancellor Lori Will said Krafton tried to buy time and "followed most of ChatGPT's recommendations" to avoid paying [1, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5]. Krafton CEO Changhan Kim reportedly described the deal as a "bad deal" and felt "taken advantage of" [2].
Subnautica 2 is the fastest-selling Steam game of 2026, reaching a peak concurrent player count of 467,000 and strong engagement. Approximately 2.4 million copies were played during the first week via Xbox Game Pass, though Xbox sales were under 100,000 units [1, 2, 4].
Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds in 2021 for about $50 million upfront [3]. After the early access success, reports on May 27 confirmed Krafton agreed to pay the full $250 million earnout bonus [1, 2, 6, 4].
The next major step is the formal payment by Krafton to Unknown Worlds, finalizing the earnout as required by the court and sales benchmarks.
