After the dispute between publisher Krafton and the developer team Unknown Worlds, there is finally an agreement regarding the release of Subnautica 2. Both parties must make compromises.
What does the agreement look like? Krafton has settled out of court and agreed to pay the success bonus of around $250 million, or approximately €213 million, to all employees of the developer studio.
The special thing is: The money will be paid in three installments to the entire workforce of the studio, including employees who were recently hired. This means they would even be paid significantly better than what is actually stipulated in their employment contracts.
According to the 2021 contract, the bonus would primarily have been distributed to the founders, executives, and employees who were already in the studio when Krafton took over in 2021. Now, it will be distributed to the entire current workforce.
However, there is a catch: As part of the agreement, the CEO of Unknown Worlds, Ted Gill, must resign. However, he stated that the separation is amicable and that new leadership is the best way for the future of the studio.
Bonus was originally supposed to be forfeited due to delays
Why was there a dispute at all? Krafton initially refused to pay this bonus and distribute it among the approximately 100 employees. There was supposed to be a bonus if the early access for Subnautica 2 was still set to start in 2025.
However, there was a delay to 2026, which would have meant the bonus payment would be forfeited. But the developer team expressed that Subnautica 2 would actually have been ready to start early access in 2025. They suspected that Krafton simply did not want to pay the bonus and therefore ordered the delay.
Krafton countered and justified the delay by stating that the team stands for quality and wants to provide the best possible experience for players. They did not postpone the release due to contractual or financial considerations.
However, it came to light that they even used ChatGPT to resolve the contract and generate a public statement.
Finally, however, both parties were able to agree, and there is a happy ending for the developers of Unknown Worlds. The community is also delighted since the first rumors about the agreement have circulated: Subnautica 2 celebrates a happy ending with $250 million: Strong sales figures likely force publisher to pay success bonus
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