Subnautica CEO Resigns as Krafton Agrees to Pay ‘Significant’ Compensation to Entire Staff

In an all-new report, it has been confirmed that Krafton has agreed to pay extensive bonuses to the staff at Unknown Worlds Entertainment, bringing an end to a months-long financial dispute. The legal issues involved a lawsuit filed against the studio’s leadership team, based on claims that they’d ‘abandoned’ their management duties.

The situation stemmed from Krafton’s original $500 million purchase of Unknown Worlds, which took place in 2021. There was an additional $250 million promised in bonuses to the company if Subnautica 2, then in development, was a success.

Today, it has been confirmed that Krafton has finally settled on that payout, and Unknown Worlds’ CEO, Ted Gill, has resigned.

Unknown Worlds Entertainment Situation is Settled

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier confirmed that Ted Gill, CEO at Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica, has resigned. Last year, Gill was dismissed by Krafton as the financial and legal concerns escalated. The situation became even more convoluted when Gill was reinstated as the CEO in March 2026.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Gill explained his departure:

We mutually agreed to part ways. New leadership is the best way for the studio to move forward.

Gill also reported that Krafton’s payout to the staff of Unknown Worlds Entertainment will be ‘significantly more’ than originally intended, and that staff will receive ‘further incentives’ as they keep working on Subnautica 2.

Subnautica 2 was released in early access on May 14th, and it quickly soared up the charts with unimaginable power. On Steam alone, it hit almost half a million concurrent players within a matter of hours, racking up tens of thousands of positive reviews.

Per the details published by Bloomberg, every employee at Unknown Worlds will receive a portion of the bonus, including staff who might have only joined recently.

Now that this issue seems to have been put to bed, it effectively brings to a close several months of litigation and drama.

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