Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill has stepped down after Krafton, Unknown Worlds Entertainment and the studio’s former leadership reached a mutual settlement that ends their legal fight over Subnautica 2. The deal also means the developer’s entire staff will receive their bonuses, closing a dispute that had shadowed the game’s launch and the studio’s leadership for months.
reported that Gill’s departure was part of the settlement, which Krafton described as an agreement to dismiss all pending legal proceedings. Krafton said Unknown Worlds will continue leading development of Subnautica 2, with Krafton providing support as the game moves through its Early Access journey toward the full 1.0 release.
The settlement matters now because the argument had become much bigger than one executive. Krafton had fired Gill, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire in the summer of last year, said the game’s launch had been delayed and blamed Gill for that delay. Gill and the co-founders sued after the dismissals, turning the bonus structure tied to Subnautica 2 into a public fight over who controlled the studio and who would be paid.
That fight was sharpened in March, when a court ordered Krafton to reinstate Gill and extend the proposed $250 million bonus to staff. Subnautica 2 has since sold 4 million copies since its early access launch on May 14 and has reached more than 467,000 peak concurrent players on Steam, which only made the dispute more visible. Krafton’s chief executive, Changhan Kim, had called the earnout a bad deal and said he felt taken advantage of, while a legal warning told him the payout could still be due even with a dismissal for cause.
The friction in the case was never just about money. Krafton says it is focused on supporting Subnautica 2, yet the underlying clash centered on allegations that leadership was removed to avoid paying a $250 million bonus. A Delaware court record also shows Kim turned to ChatGPT for help, and Vice-chancellor Lori Will wrote that the system initially said the earnout would be difficult to cancel. She said an internal task force called Project X was then formed to negotiate a deal or carry out a takeover of Unknown Worlds.
What remains unanswered is who will permanently lead Unknown Worlds next. For now, the studio is moving ahead under Krafton’s support, the bonuses are set to be paid, and the legal battle that engulfed Subnautica 2 has been put to rest.
