{"id":1829578,"date":"2026-03-16T17:00:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1829578"},"modified":"2026-03-16T17:00:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:00:48","slug":"judge-delivers-bombshell-order-for-krafton-to-reinstate-fired-subnautica-2-devs-and-ceo-putting-250m-bonus-package-back-on-the-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1829578","title":{"rendered":"Judge delivers bombshell order for Krafton to reinstate fired Subnautica 2 devs and CEO, putting $250m bonus package back on the table"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica-2\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Subnautica 2<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Judge delivers bombshell order for Krafton to reinstate fired Subnautica 2 devs and CEO, putting $250m bonus package back on the table<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Water works.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/screenshot-from-subnautica-2-showing-a-character-with-a-cracked-diving-mask.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"screenshot from subnautica 2 showing a character with a cracked diving mask\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"screenshot-from-subnautica-2-showing-a-character-with-a-cracked-diving-mask.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Unknown Worlds<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/connor-makar\">Connor Makar<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Staff Writer<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-16T17:00:48+00:00\">March 16, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/kraft-subnautica-2-ceo-reinstated-judge?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          3 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"9b751be1-bde5-4ecd-8081-2abe2cce45b9\" data-name=\"Subnautica 2\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Subnautica 2\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Subnautica 2\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Subnautica 2\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Subnautica 2\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Subnautica 2\" title=\"Follow Subnautica 2\"><br \/>\n  Follow Subnautica 2<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>A judge has ruled that South Korean video game giant Krafton must reinstate CEO of Unknown Worlds Ted Gill, after he was fired from the position in July, 2025. He must also be put back in charge with &#8220;full operating authority&#8221; of the studio and of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica-2\">Subnautica 2<\/a>&#8216;s Early Access release as part of this ruling.<\/p>\n<p>The judge has also favoured Unknown Worlds in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-drama-escalates-ousted-developers-launch-legal-action-as-krafton-accuses-them-of-abandoning-project\">first phase of legal challenges against Krafton<\/a>. They state that Krafton breached the EPA by &#8220;terminating the Key Employees without valid Cause and by improperly seizing operational control of Unknown Worlds.&#8221; As a result the board resolution that saw Gill and his co-developers fired has been declared &#8221; ineffective&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Gill will regain control of the Steam platform for Subnautica 2, plus the $250m bonus payout period established as part of Unknown Worlds&#8217; sale to Krafton has also been extended. The co-founders who potentially could have earned this bonus may now do so again through 2026 and potentially beyond, something they were stripped of when initially fired.<\/p>\n<p>The original claims by Krafton was that the fired developers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-lawsuit-alleges-ousted-leader-was-working-on-a-subnautica-movie-despite-kraftons-claims-he-chose-to-focus-on-a-personal-film-project\">had &#8220;abandoned their responsibilities&#8221;<\/a>, a claim the impacted devs pushed back on, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-delayed-by-publisher-krafton-just-months-before-alleged-250m-payout-to-developers\">as they believed they were &#8220;pushed out&#8221; to avoid paying the $250m bonus<\/a>. The three developers removed from Unknown Worlds by Krafton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-studio-leadership-replaced-by-krafton-despite-looming-early-access\">were replaced by Steve Papoutsis, who was also acting as CEO of Striking Distance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>This is a breaking story, more to follow.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>A judge has ruled that South Korean video game giant Krafton must reinstate CEO of Unknown Worlds Ted Gill, after he was fired from the position in July, 2025. He must also be put back in charge with &#8220;full operating authority&#8221; of the studio and of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica-2\">Subnautica 2<\/a>&#8216;s Early Access release as part of this ruling.<\/p>\n<p>The judge has also favoured Unknown Worlds in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-drama-escalates-ousted-developers-launch-legal-action-as-krafton-accuses-them-of-abandoning-project\">first phase of legal challenges against Krafton<\/a>. They state that Krafton breached the EPA by &#8220;terminating the Key Employees without valid Cause and by improperly seizing operational control of Unknown Worlds.&#8221; As a result the board resolution that saw Gill and his co-developers fired has been declared &#8221; ineffective&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Gill will regain control of the Steam platform for Subnautica 2, plus the $250m bonus payout period established as part of Unknown Worlds&#8217; sale to Krafton has also been extended. The co-founders who potentially could have earned this bonus may now do so again through 2026 and potentially beyond, something they were stripped of when initially fired.<\/p>\n<p>The original claims by Krafton was that the fired developers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-lawsuit-alleges-ousted-leader-was-working-on-a-subnautica-movie-despite-kraftons-claims-he-chose-to-focus-on-a-personal-film-project\">had &#8220;abandoned their responsibilities&#8221;<\/a>, a claim the impacted devs pushed back on, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-delayed-by-publisher-krafton-just-months-before-alleged-250m-payout-to-developers\">as they believed they were &#8220;pushed out&#8221; to avoid paying the $250m bonus<\/a>. The three developers removed from Unknown Worlds by Krafton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-studio-leadership-replaced-by-krafton-despite-looming-early-access\">were replaced by Steve Papoutsis, who was also acting as CEO of Striking Distance<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>This is a breaking story, more to follow.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Subnautica 2 Judge delivers bombshell order for Krafton to reinstate fired Subnautica 2 devs and CEO, putting $250m bonus package back on the table Water works. Image credit: Unknown Worlds News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 16, 2026 3 comments Follow Subnautica 2 A judge has ruled that South Korean [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1829578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1829578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1829578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1829578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1829578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}