‘PUBG' Studio Krafton's ‘InZoi' on Track to Break Sales Records
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Krafton Inc. posted a better-than-expected 47% jump in quarterly earnings and revealed the Sims -like InZoi has become its fastest-selling title.
InZoi launched in early access on March 28 and sold a million copies in its first week, Chief Financial Officer Bae Dongkeun said. Krafton hopes the game, which lets players control avatars in a virtual world, will anchor a broader effort to expand beyond its best-known PUBG franchise. The publisher plans to release Subnautica 2 via early access in the second half of this year with 'high expectations' given its predecessor sold about 8 million copies, Bae added on an earnings call.
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Engadget
2 days ago
- Engadget
What the hell is going on with Subnautica 2?
If I had to describe the status of Subnautica 2 in just three words, it would be these: messy, messy, messy. That's not to say the game itself is in terrible shape — this is actually a pivotal claim in the whole situation — but the relationship between Subnautica series developer Unknown Worlds and its parent company, Krafton, is in shreds. This month alone, Krafton fired the founders and CEO of Unknown Worlds, Subnautica 2 was delayed until 2026 and the ousted leaders filed a lawsuit against Krafton, looking to regain creative control of the game and the studio. At the center of the conflict is a bonus payment worth up to $250 million. Here's a rundown of how we got here and what in the devil is going on with Subnautica 2 , Krafton and Unknown Worlds. Charlie Cleveland accidentally started Unknown Worlds in 2001 while building the popular Half-Life mods Natural Selection and Natural Selection 2 , and technical director Max McGuire came on as an official studio co-founder in 2006. Inspired by Minecraft and burned out on mods, Unknown Worlds began working on the undersea, open-world exploration game Subnautica and released it in early access on Steam in 2014. With years of community feedback, the game evolved into a singularly tense and rich survival experience, and version 1.0 officially landed in 2018. This is also when Ted Gill joined the studio's executive team, freeing up Cleveland to focus on creative direction. Subnautica and its spin-off, Subnautica: Below Zero , attracted millions of players and established Unknown Worlds as a successful independent team. So, the larger studios came sniffing. PUBG publisher Krafton, which operates with billions of dollars annually, purchased Unknown Worlds in 2021 for $500 million. The acquisition came with the promise of an additional payout worth up to $250 million if Unknown Worlds hit certain performance goals by the end of 2025. This bonus is a critical piece of the chaos today. We know more about the details of this deal thanks to recent reporting by Bloomberg . In addition to the leadership positions, which were filled by Cleveland, Gill and McGuire, Unknown Worlds had about 40 employees at the time of the Krafton sale, and they received payouts totaling $50 million at closing and over the following two years. This larger group was poised to receive as much as $25 million in the 2025 performance-based earnout, with each person expecting a different amount, but most estimating six or seven figures. The remaining $225 million was reserved for the Unknown Worlds leadership, but they said they intended to share a portion of their windfall with employees who weren't included in the bonus, covering the full studio headcount of about 100 people. The leadership of Unknown Worlds repeated this promise in a lawsuit filed against Krafton on July 10, 2025. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. After the acquisition, Unknown Worlds continued updating Subnautica and Below Zero . In February 2024, the studio released Moonbreaker , a turn-based strategy game that never really took off, partially because of its initial microtransaction system . Since then, the studio has been focused on Subnautica 2 . The game was officially announced in October 2024 with a prospective early access launch window of 2025. It's currently the second-most wishlisted game on Steam, after Hollow Knight: Silksong . The first public notion that something was rotten between Unknown Worlds and Krafton came on July 2, when Cleveland, Gill and McGuire were fired and replaced by former Callisto Protocol studio head Steve Papoutsis. Krafton didn't provide a reason for the switch-up in its press release , instead offering the following nearly complete thought: 'While Krafton sought to keep the Unknown Worlds' co-founders and original creators of the Subnautica series involved in the game's development, the company wishes them well on their next endeavors.' Krafton didn't mention delaying the early access launch at this time, but it implemented a review process that it said would be 'essential to delivering the right game at the right time.' The publisher suggested the ousted leaders had been uncooperative in this aspect. 'Unknown Worlds' new leadership fully supports this process and is committed to meeting player expectations,' its press release said. Cleveland published a blog post on July 4 reflecting on his time in game development, and sharing his disappointment at Krafton's handling of Unknown Worlds and Subnautica 2 . He also referenced Krafton's intent to delay the launch. 'You can see why for Max, Ted, myself, the Unknown Worlds team, and for our community, the events of this week have been quite a shock,' Cleveland wrote. 'We know that the game is ready for early access release and we know you're ready to play it. And while we thought this was going to be our decision to make, at least for now, that decision is in Krafton's hands. And after all these years, to find that I'm no longer able to work at the company I started stings.' On July 9, Krafton officially delayed the early access launch of Subnautica 2 to 2026. That same day, Bloomberg published a report outlining the performance-based bonus agreement and implicitly questioning how the timing of the delay would make it difficult for the studio to hit its goals, putting the payout in jeopardy. This was the first time the details of the bonus became public. Krafton shared a statement with Engadget — and in a pop-up on its own homepage — on July 10 that straight-up accused the fired leaders of abandoning the studio in favor of personal creative pursuits, specifically calling out Cleveland's film production company . It also threw shade at Moonbreaker and claimed the former bosses wanted the bonus payment 'for themselves.' 'Krafton made multiple requests to Charlie and Max to resume their roles as Game Director and Technical Director, respectively, but both declined to do so,' the statement said. 'In particular, following the failure of Moonbreaker , Krafton asked Charlie to devote himself to the development of Subnautica 2 . However, instead of participating in the game development, he chose to focus on a personal film project. Krafton believes that the absence of core leadership has resulted in repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule. The current Early Access version also falls short in terms of content volume.' That same day, Cleveland announced that he and the other ousted studio heads had filed a lawsuit against Krafton. 'Suing a multibillion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list,' Cleveland wrote. 'But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life's work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it. As for the earnout, the idea that Max, Ted and I wanted to keep it all for ourselves is totally untrue.' The lawsuit wasn't unsealed until July 16. But on July 15, Bloomberg reported that Krafton now planned to extend the window for the bonus payment by an additional year, giving the studio more time to hit its goals. The publisher will also reportedly advance a portion of a separate profit-sharing bonus pool to all Unknown Worlds employees in 2025. These moves seem designed to moot the core issues raised in the breach of contract complaint that Cleveland and other Unknown Worlds leaders filed against Krafton in Delaware Chancery Court. The lawsuit, unsealed on July 16, claims Krafton illegally fired the studio heads and delayed Subnautica 2 in order to avoid the bonus payments. It also provides a timeline of growing tensions between the founders and Krafton this year, accusing the publisher of intentional sabotage. The lawsuit claims that Krafton and Unknown Worlds had a respectful relationship until April 2025, when Gill presented Krafton executives with the studio's positive revenue projections, which were made with the assumption that Subnautica 2 would hit early access in 2025. He also outlined the expected bonus payout under the agreement. 'When that happened, everything changed,' the lawsuit reads. The complaint alleges that at this point, Krafton began looking for ways to force out the leaders of Unknown Worlds and delay the launch of Subnautica 2 , with a goal of circumventing the bonus payment. Cleveland, Gill and McGuire argued back and forth with Krafton executives over whether the game was ready for early access, and Krafton eventually pulled all of its resources from the studio. Krafton issued a stop order on Subnautica 2 development, took over Unknown Worlds' communications channels and in June it started laying an internal paper trail accusing the founders of abandoning their fiduciary duties, according to the complaint. Cleveland, Gill and McGuire were fired and removed from the Unknown Worlds board of directors on July 1. This is where the rest of us entered the story. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The main conflict here is over whether Subnautica 2 is really ready for an early access launch, and that matters because of a potential $250 million bonus payment that's jeopardized by a delay. Not only is this a large sum for Krafton to lose, but it's also a massive amount of money for Cleveland, Gill and McGuire to miss out on, especially now that they've lost their studio and tentpole IP. The ousted leaders reiterated in their lawsuit that they 'planned to share even more of the earnout with their dedicated team' than they were contractually obligated to. In the complaint, they're looking for Krafton to pay out the full bonus as projected without a delay, fulfill its obligations as a publisher and reinstate them as the heads of Unknown Worlds. Every party in this situation claims they want what's best for Subnautica 2 and its players. It's possible that they're all telling the truth and this is a simple disagreement over artistic integrity. It's also possible that they're all lying and everyone is looking to make (or keep) a quick buck — but man, that's bleak. The truth, as usual, likely lies somewhere in between and, chances are, we'll never know it. At least the court system will eventually be able to determine the second-best thing, which is who's at fault. Have a tip for Jessica? You can reach her by email , Bluesky or send a message to @jesscon.96 to chat confidentially on Signal. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Ohio's unclaimed funds site nearly doubles in visitors
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ohio Department of Commerce saw an 83% jump in the number of claims for unclaimed funds from June 30 through July 6. The department said there were 153,561 claims filed during that time; for perspective, there were 325,646 total claims filed since June 1. The jump in claims seems to coincide with the state budget passing a provision to use $1.7 billion, or 20% of the fund, to build a new stadium for the Cleveland Browns as well as other sports facility upgrades and projects. Best places to live in the Columbus metro area A lawsuit was filed against the state last week, claiming that using those funds is unconstitutional. Many Ohioans have sounded off on social media about the plan to use the unclaimed money. Several plaintiffs in the lawsuit said the process for collecting the funds has been difficult and cumbersome. But Misti Sims of Columbus said the process was easy for her. 'It tells you step by step what you're supposed to do and I filled it out and sent it in, and I had a couple other steps to go through because of where the money came from, but it was from an insurance claim that I had three years prior, but eventually I got every penny of it,' Sims said. Sims claimed $1,087 from a car insurance claim years ago. Sims even looked up her sister's name to find she also had more than $300; Sims printed her claim so all she has to do is sign it and send it in. 'It was very easy,' she said. 'Everything's online, it walks you through it, and that's your money, so go get it. Don't let the state have your money. That's yours. It's my money, I don't feel that I should give it to you to build a stadium. If you want to build a stadium, get your own money. I mean, that was my money.' Superintendent hired in new district just months after receiving hefty retirement bonus The Ohio Department of Commerce also said it received about double the number of visitors to its website from May to June, showing Ohioans are very interested in claiming what's theirs. According to the Statehouse, that $1.7 billion set to be taken from Unclaimed Funds will happen on Jan. 1, 2026, and will come from funds that are more than ten years old. The state said future claims for money will be honored. 'What are you waiting for? It's your money. Go get it,' Sims said. To learn how to search for funds as well as claim any you may find, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
The Verge
4 days ago
- The Verge
Subnautica 2's creators sue their publisher for ‘severely' damaging the game's release
The battle between Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton and the three former executives at its developer Unknown Worlds continues. Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire — the three executives who Krafton terminated earlier this year — have filed a lawsuit detailing the alleged attempts by Krafton to torpedo the early access release of Subnautica 2 with the express purpose of avoiding paying a promised earnout bonus of $250 million. 'Krafton's actions have already severely damaged fan anticipation and undermined the potential release of Subnautica 2,' the lawsuit says. That earnout was promised by Krafton to the former executives and roughly 100 developers and was to be paid should Unknown Worlds hit revenue goals by the end of 2025. Subnautica 2, slated for early access release sometime in late 2025, would have all but assured those goals were met. According to the lawsuit filed today in a Delaware chancery court, Krafton also knew Subnautica 2 was on track to meet if not exceed the revenue target to trigger the payout and began to take steps to essentially prevent that. The original Subnautica, an underwater survival adventure game, was a critical and commercial success, and its sequel has become the second most wishlisted game ever on Steam. The lawsuit details a meeting between Krafton's US and Korean employees concerning the marketing strategy for Subnautica 2. After that meeting, Krafton's US employees, who worked closely with the Subnautica 2 team, reported that Kafton's attitude about the game had changed. 'Upon their return, the El Segundo team—Krafton employees—reported to Gill that Krafton's leadership was not focused on a successful launch, but instead on how it could convince Unknown Worlds to delay the game.' The lawsuit additionally states that Krafton's US employees explicitly revealed to the Unknown Worlds founders that 'Krafton's legal team was combing through the agreements looking for any opening to terminate the Founders if they proceeded with the planned release.' The lawsuit provided the details of the deal in which Krafton purchased Unknown Worlds back in 2021. The lawsuit says that part of that deal was an agreement that the founders would maintain control of the company and the release schedule of Subnautica 2, while Krafton could not impede the game's development nor fire Unknown Worlds' founders without cause. According to the lawsuit, Krafton launched a campaign to do both. Krafton allegedly failed to follow through on several of its development responsibilities for Subnautica 2 including pulling marketing and localization support. 'Indeed, one of Krafton's El Segundo publishing employees reported to Gill that Krafton Headquarters told all Krafton teams to stop all creative tasks related to Subnautica 2.' The lawsuit claims that Krafton took these obstructionist actions to delay the game to explicitly avoid the $250 million payout. At a meeting between Krafton CEO Changhan Kim and Charlie Cleveland, Kim allegedly stated that, 'if Unknown Worlds released the game on its planned timeline [...], it could be disastrous financially and hugely embarrassing for Krafton.' Krafton declined to comment. After the initial story broke regarding the alleged reason for Subnautica's delay, Bloomberg reported that Krafton agreed to extend the timeline for the earnout to account for Subnautica 2's later release. Previously, the company denied that it delayed Subnautica 2 for any other reason but to polish the game. Earlier this week, an internal document regarding Subnautica 2's development were leaked on Reddit. The document, consisting of two pictures taken of a computer screen, outlined the content originally planned for the game's early access launch and how some material had to be changed or removed to meet the release acknowledged the veracity of those documents saying, 'Given these circumstances, Krafton has determined that transparent communication is necessary and has chosen to confirm the authenticity of the document,' possibly to bolster its argument that Subnautica 2 was not ready for its early access release.
