{"id":3702,"date":"2025-07-17T10:25:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/?p=3702"},"modified":"2025-07-19T09:30:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T09:30:59","slug":"krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Krafton Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Sabotage of \u2018Subnautica 2\u2019 to Avoid $250M Payout"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2025-07-16\/-subnautica-2-leaders-say-krafton-sabotaged-game-over-payout?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1MjY5NjkxNCwiZXhwIjoxNzUzMzAxNzE0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTWklES0hHUTFZV1YwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.BkmRx4aml19CFVFD7co9L2bDXY30dv0S3HZbpL2-bz0&amp;leadSource=uverify%20wall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bloomberg repor<\/a>t: The former leadership of Unknown Worlds is suing South Korean publisher Krafton, claiming the company sabotaged Subnautica 2 to avoid paying a $250 million earnout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a newly unsealed lawsuit, Krafton allegedly dismissed CEO Ted Gill and founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire after they presented strong revenue forecasts that would trigger the massive bonus. The complaint accuses Krafton of delaying Subnautica 2 \u2014 originally slated for early access in 2025 \u2014 by halting marketing efforts, pulling resources, and pressuring the team to push the release to 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"krafton-lawsuit-over-subnautica-2-explained\">Krafton Lawsuit Over Subnautica 2 Explained<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Krafton denies the allegations, citing \u201cslow and underwhelming progress\u201d and claiming the executives \u201cabandoned their responsibilities.\u201d The lawsuit counters, stating internal tests and external previews praised the game\u2019s readiness, with millions of Steam wishlist adds signaling strong demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-1024x1024.webp\" alt=\"Former Unknown Worlds leaders accuse Krafton of delaying Subnautica 2 and firing executives to dodge a $250M earnout payment.\" class=\"wp-image-3706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-1024x1024.webp 1024w, https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-768x768.webp 768w, https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-12x12.webp 12w, https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispute centers on Krafton\u2019s 2021 acquisition of Unknown Worlds for $500 million, with an additional $250 million tied to performance milestones. Former leaders now seek damages, while Krafton has extended the bonus period and offered a reduced $25 million pool for employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Journalist Jason Schreier, who shared details of the lawsuit, noted that the situation stemmed from the \u201cCOVID fever,\u201d when companies like Krafton were spending too aggressively on various acquisitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-bluesky-social wp-block-embed-bluesky-social\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:2mkgbhbhqvappkkorf2bzyrp\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lu4f74a7as2q\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreibzjuk3ykk6f4vbpehtlmu6camqyhe7f4u4iajjrrwsv4bt43ibfe\"><p lang=\"en\">Amidst the drama, I do think it&#39;s worth pointing out that it is *bonkers* that Krafton purchased Unknown Worlds for $500m with a $250m earnout.For comparison: Sony bought Insomniac Games in 2019 for $229m. EA bought Respawn in 2017 for $455m. 2021 sure was wild<\/p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:2mkgbhbhqvappkkorf2bzyrp?ref_src=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:2mkgbhbhqvappkkorf2bzyrp\/post\/3lu4f74a7as2q?ref_src=embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025-07-16T21:43:55.383Z<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Subnautica 2 remains one of the most anticipated survival titles, but the legal battle threatens to overshadow its future.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bloomberg report: The former leadership of Unknown Worlds is suing South Korean publisher Krafton, claiming the company sabotaged Subnautica 2 to avoid paying a $250 million earnout. According to a newly unsealed lawsuit, Krafton allegedly dismissed CEO Ted Gill and founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire after they presented strong revenue forecasts that would trigger [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_gspb_post_css":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-3702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games","tag-scandal"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_url":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-150x150.avif","medium":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-300x150.avif","medium_large":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-768x384.avif","large":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-1024x512.avif","1536x1536":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-1536x768.avif","2048x2048":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-2048x1024.avif","trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/krafton-faces-lawsuit-over-alleged-sabotage-of-subnautica-2-to-avoid-250m-payout-18x9.avif"},"post_author":"Astra","assigned_categories":"Games","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}