Krafton loses court case, Subnautica 2 dev team reinstated and gets fair shot at hitting $250 million performance target

UPDATE:Krafton has issued the following response to the court's ruling:

"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 Subnautica community. We look forward to pushing out the newly updated version as soon as possible for players.

• Read more: Subnautica developers sue Krafton for replacing entire Subnautica 2 leadership team
• Read more: Subnautica 2 was taking too long to release, so Krafton replaced the studio's CEO

While we respectfully disagree with today's ruling, we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward. Today's ruling does not resolve the former executives' claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation still pending. In the meantime, KRAFTON's immediate focus remains unchanged: delivering the best possible game to Subnautica's fans."

The Krafton-Subnautica 2 lawsuit has reached a conclusion, and the courts are ruling in favor of the developers, reinstating fired CEO Ted Gill to lead Unknown Worlds.

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Good news for Subnautica 2 fans: The original dev leadership team is returning to guide the game's ongoing early access development. A bit of catch-up around the case: Subnautica 2's dev team was close to hitting a performance target that would require Krafton to pay out a $250 million bonus. Krafton allegedly asked ChatGPT on how to get out of paying the fee. Krafton shook up the team leading the project, leading three devs--CEO Ted Gill, co-founder Max McGuire, and game director Charlie Cleveland--to sue Krafton.

Fast-forwarding to the recent decision, and Krafton has been ordered to reinstate Gill. Krafton will also have to give the Subnautica 2 dev team a fair shot in achieving the performance target. The deadline has also been extended to September 2026, with Krafton being prohibited from interfering with Subnautica 2's early access development.

"Krafton is enjoined from circumventing Section 2.7(f) or impeding Gill's authority over the early access launch of Subnautica 2 and must immediately restore his access to the Steam platform. Finally, the base earnout Testing Period is equitably extended by 258 days to September 15, 2026, and Fortis retains its contractual right to further extend the Testing Period to March 15, 2027."

Charlie Cleveland, one of the devs who left Unknown Worlds as a result of the lawsuit, had this to say about the progress:

"It's been a tough eight months for Unknown Worlds and the Subnautica community. But today, we've been vindicated!"