{"id":1830457,"date":"2026-03-17T10:05:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1830457"},"modified":"2026-03-17T10:05:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T07:05:23","slug":"krafton-responds-to-subnautica-2-legal-ruling-we-are-evaluating-our-options-as-we-determine-our-path-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1830457","title":{"rendered":"Krafton responds to Subnautica 2 legal ruling: &#8220;we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward&#8221;"},"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\">Krafton responds to Subnautica 2 legal ruling:  &#8220;we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward&#8221;<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision&#8221;<\/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\/subnautica-2_zv86SQE.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A shot from Subnautica 2's cinematic teaser trailer showing a close-up of a diver in the ocean's depths. A message is visible on the inside of their helmet visor, reading,&quot; Warning, critical.&quot;\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"subnautica-2_zv86SQE.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Unknown Worlds\/Krafton<\/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=\"2026-03-17T10:05:23+00:00\">March 17, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/krafton-responds-to-subnautica-2-legal-ruling-we-are-evaluating-our-options-as-we-determine-our-path-forward?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          7 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>Krafton has provided a statement to Eurogamer on yesterday&#8217;s court ruling on Unknown Worlds and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica-2\">Subnautica 2<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/kraft-subnautica-2-ceo-reinstated-judge\">This ruling<\/a> stated that the CEO must be brought back into his role, he must have control over the Steam page and Early Access launch of Subnautica 2, and the $250m performance-based bonus package must be extended.<\/p>\n<p>The statement, attributed to Krafton, reads: &#8220;Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision, and that will never change. Over the past several months, KRAFTON and the Unknown Worlds team have worked tirelessly to strengthen the game and prepare it for an Early Access release, with a continued focus on delivering the best possible experience for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica\">Subnautica<\/a> community. We look forward to pushing out the newly updated version as soon as possible for players.<\/p>\n<p>While we respectfully disagree with today&#8217;s ruling, we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward. Today&#8217;s ruling does not resolve the former executives&#8217; claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation still pending. In the meantime, Krafton&#8217;s immediate focus remains unchanged: delivering the best possible game to Subnautica&#8217;s fans.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Subnautica 2 leads <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-studio-leadership-replaced-by-krafton-despite-looming-early-access\">were removed from their positions in July 2025<\/a>, including game director Charlie Cleveland, as was Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and special projects director Max McGuire. These ousted developers t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-drama-escalates-ousted-developers-launch-legal-action-as-krafton-accuses-them-of-abandoning-project\">hen launched legal action against Krafton<\/a>, claiming they were pushed out and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-delayed-by-publisher-krafton-just-months-before-alleged-250m-payout-to-developers\">the game was delayed<\/a> in order for the studio to miss revenue targets and be unlikely to receive a hefty $250m bonus package.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Krafton at the time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/kraftons-ready-to-take-on-subnauticas-creators-in-court\">was ready to meet these devs in court<\/a>, stating decisions were made to &#8220;ensure Subnautica 2 is the best possible game and lives up to fan expectations&#8221;. The company also claimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/krafton-defends-itself-amidst-subnautica-2-fiasco-says-milestone-process-is-being-rigorously-managed\">the milestone process was &#8220;rigorously managed&#8221;<\/a>, in response to claims to the contrary. Krafton&#8217;s CEO also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/krafton-ceo-allegedly-asked-ai-to-brainstorm-ways-to-avoid-paying-earnout-bonus-to-subnautica-2-devs\">allegedly asked ChatGPT to &#8220;brainstorm ways to avoid paying&#8221; these milestone packages<\/a>. Krafton also denied this, stating in a statement to Eurogamer back in November 2025 these claims were &#8220;simply a distraction&#8221; from the removed developers&#8217; own actions.<\/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>Krafton has provided a statement to Eurogamer on yesterday&#8217;s court ruling on Unknown Worlds and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica-2\">Subnautica 2<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/kraft-subnautica-2-ceo-reinstated-judge\">This ruling<\/a> stated that the CEO must be brought back into his role, he must have control over the Steam page and Early Access launch of Subnautica 2, and the $250m performance-based bonus package must be extended.<\/p>\n<p>The statement, attributed to Krafton, reads: &#8220;Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision, and that will never change. Over the past several months, KRAFTON and the Unknown Worlds team have worked tirelessly to strengthen the game and prepare it for an Early Access release, with a continued focus on delivering the best possible experience for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/subnautica\">Subnautica<\/a> community. We look forward to pushing out the newly updated version as soon as possible for players.<\/p>\n<p>While we respectfully disagree with today&#8217;s ruling, we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward. Today&#8217;s ruling does not resolve the former executives&#8217; claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation still pending. In the meantime, Krafton&#8217;s immediate focus remains unchanged: delivering the best possible game to Subnautica&#8217;s fans.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Subnautica 2 leads <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-studio-leadership-replaced-by-krafton-despite-looming-early-access\">were removed from their positions in July 2025<\/a>, including game director Charlie Cleveland, as was Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and special projects director Max McGuire. These ousted developers t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-drama-escalates-ousted-developers-launch-legal-action-as-krafton-accuses-them-of-abandoning-project\">hen launched legal action against Krafton<\/a>, claiming they were pushed out and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/subnautica-2-delayed-by-publisher-krafton-just-months-before-alleged-250m-payout-to-developers\">the game was delayed<\/a> in order for the studio to miss revenue targets and be unlikely to receive a hefty $250m bonus package.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Krafton at the time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/kraftons-ready-to-take-on-subnauticas-creators-in-court\">was ready to meet these devs in court<\/a>, stating decisions were made to &#8220;ensure Subnautica 2 is the best possible game and lives up to fan expectations&#8221;. The company also claimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/krafton-defends-itself-amidst-subnautica-2-fiasco-says-milestone-process-is-being-rigorously-managed\">the milestone process was &#8220;rigorously managed&#8221;<\/a>, in response to claims to the contrary. Krafton&#8217;s CEO also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/krafton-ceo-allegedly-asked-ai-to-brainstorm-ways-to-avoid-paying-earnout-bonus-to-subnautica-2-devs\">allegedly asked ChatGPT to &#8220;brainstorm ways to avoid paying&#8221; these milestone packages<\/a>. Krafton also denied this, stating in a statement to Eurogamer back in November 2025 these claims were &#8220;simply a distraction&#8221; from the removed developers&#8217; own actions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Subnautica 2 Krafton responds to Subnautica 2 legal ruling: &#8220;we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward&#8221; &#8220;Krafton puts players at the heart of every decision&#8221; Image credit: Unknown Worlds\/Krafton News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 17, 2026 7 comments Follow Subnautica 2 Krafton has provided a [&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-1830457","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\/1830457","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=1830457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1830457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1830457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1830457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}