The $250 million at the heart of the Subnautica 2 dispute was the maximum earnout in Krafton’s 2021 acquisition of Unknown Worlds—not a confirmed budget for the game. In March 2026, the Delaware Court of Chancery found that Krafton breached contractual protections over studio control and ordered Ted Gill restored as CEO. Bloomberg Law later reported that the parties agreed to drop their court fight, but its June 30 report did not disclose a settlement amount or confirm that any earnout was paid.
What was the $250 million actually for?
Krafton acquired all of Unknown Worlds’ equity in 2021, paying $500 million upfront and agreeing to contingent earnout payments of up to $250 million, according to the Delaware Court of Chancery’s March 16, 2026 opinion in Fortis Advisors, LLC v. Krafton, Inc. The earnout was tied to Unknown Worlds’ revenue. It was not a stated development budget for Subnautica 2, and the cap does not show that the game earned—or that Krafton paid—the maximum.
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The opinion describes a $69.8 million revenue threshold and a formula of $3.12 for each additional revenue dollar, subject to the $250 million cap. Those are terms of the acquisition agreement, not evidence that the threshold was reached or that a particular payment became due.
What did the judge decide about control of the studio?
The court found that Krafton lacked contractual justification to remove key employees’ operational control and breached the acquisition agreement by doing so. Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will ordered Gill reinstated as Unknown Worlds’ CEO with operational authority over the studio and game. The order did not put co-founders Cleveland and McGuire back in their former peripheral roles.
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Will wrote: “Krafton’s newly manufactured justifications for the terminations are pretextual.” That is the court’s finding about the justifications Krafton gave for the terminations; it should not be read as a finding that every allegation made by the founders was proven.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Was Subnautica 2 delayed to avoid paying the earnout?
The court’s March opinion did not decide that question. It reserved for a later phase whether Krafton wrongfully impaired the earnout and whether money damages were owed. The opinion’s ruling on contractual control—and its rejection of Krafton’s stated justifications for the terminations—does not by itself establish that the game’s timing was manipulated to avoid an earnout payment.
The opinion also describes Krafton CEO Changhan Kim consulting an AI chatbot about takeover strategy and Krafton locking Unknown Worlds out of its Steam publishing platform. These details are part of the court’s account of the dispute; they do not establish a separate finding that a release delay was engineered to avoid paying a bonus.
How did the court fight end, and were the developers paid?
On June 30, 2026, Bloomberg Law reported that the parties had agreed to drop their court fight and that Unknown Worlds’ founders would drop their remaining claims. The report available here does not disclose the agreement’s financial terms. It therefore does not establish whether Krafton paid an earnout, paid another settlement amount, or made no payment.
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