{"id":1648005,"date":"2026-07-29T11:34:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2oLqKQ9thNsaqjxQL3Whc4"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:34:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:34:36","slug":"subnautica-2-is-responsible-for-kraftons-record-second-quarter-performance-despite-the-messy-legal-battle-and-accusations-of-sabotage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/subnautica-2-is-responsible-for-kraftons-record-second-quarter-performance-despite-the-messy-legal-battle-and-accusations-of-sabotage\/","title":{"rendered":"Subnautica 2 is responsible for Krafton’s ‘record second quarter performance’ despite the messy legal battle and accusations of sabotage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Subnautica 2<\/a> might be a chill survival game, but the journey to May’s early access launch was filled with drama, legal battles and accusations of sabotage. Just recalling it all is giving me a massive headache, which I’m now going to give to you. <\/p>\n

In 2025, Krafton ousted Unknown World’s leadership<\/a> and delayed Subnautica 2’s early access launch. The publisher accused the studio heads of abandoning the game<\/a>, who then fired back and accused Krafton of delaying Subnautica 2 so it wouldn’t have to pay a promised $250 million earnout<\/a>\u2014a strategy Krafton’s CEO came up with thanks to ChatGPT<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The result of the dispute was a judge forcing Krafton to reinstate Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill and extend the earnout period<\/a>. But the drama wasn’t over. Krafton then almost immediately announced an imminent early access release date, which Gill believed was its final attempt to sabotage the game<\/a> and avoid paying what was promised. <\/p>\n

It’s genuinely a miracle that after all of this Subnautica 2 launched and it was really, really good. Earlier this month, it hit a new milestone: 5 million copies sold<\/a>. Gill announced that he’d left around the same time\u2014voluntarily this time<\/a>\u2014which isn’t a surprise given his acrimonious relationship with Krafton. The game launched, it was a success, and Unknown Worlds staff will all receive bonuses from the earnout. His job was done. <\/p>\n

Krafton, meanwhile, has been trying to draw a line under the whole mess by celebrating Subnautica 2’s success. Today, it announced a record second quarter performance, with reported revenue of KRW 1.29 trillion and operating profit of KRW 410.9 billion, both the highest they’ve ever been for the second quarter. <\/p>\n

“The success of Subnautica 2 and steady growth of the PUBG IP were the main drivers” of this, it said in a press release. PC revenue has exceeded KRW 500 billion for the first time, too, and is much higher than console and mobile revenue\u2014though both have still risen year-over-year. <\/p>\n

But Subnautica 2 has also cost the publisher a lot, thanks to the expensive acquisition and, more recently, the $250 million earnout. While the KRW 410.9 operating profit is a new record, the net profit actually shows a deficit of KRW 29.9 billion. <\/p>\n

So Krafton might have made a lotta cash, but it’s spent even more. <\/p>\n

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