Oh I see. They did that shit on purpose because unknown worlds was doing a good job and krafton wanted to not pay out.
DanHazard2
What does this mean for them?
ExcelIsSuck
the situation is so weird, i dunno what to think about it.
On the one hand you could say that MAYBE the ceos that got fired (original) wanted the payout for their employees and were going to potentially release the game in a broken state so they could get it, which obviously the publisher dont want cus they want more money
On the other hand as this article hints maybe the publisher heard news it was indeed gunna release and are trying to save giving the studio that money at all costs.
Im more inclined to believe the latter tbh just because of how scummy publisher usually are and there arent many big publishers that care about a game releasing in a good state lol. But once again idk, will have to see if more comes out. Either way its super sad for the devs, thats life changing amounts of money if they were gunna share it amongst the staff so my hearts go out to em
InflamedNodes
I mean no offense, but shouldn’t there be language in the contract the predicts a pretend delay to nix the agreement and a payout if the leads are cut before the payout date. Seems very sus that they couldn’t easily counter-sue against this.
Blankensh1p89
HMMMMMMMMMMMM
Whyd it have to subnautica. I just wanted akwire new blue prints.
LangyMD
…the contract for “new owner pays us $250m if we hit these revenue targets” also gave the new owner the ability to delay the release date of the game that might have made them that revenue? Why the hell would they ever agree to that and expect to be able to make that money?
POJILOI_TARAKAN
imagine selling your ass to chinese mobile game company and expect to not be screwed.
4 panel meme about “animals being stupid and being caught in human made traps” all over again.
Urdadspapasfrutas
This game is cooked.
-FaZe-
I didn’t expect Subnautica to hit me this hard. At first, I thought it was just another survival game, but it ended up being one of the most immersive and emotional experiences I’ve ever had in gaming. The moment I stepped into the water for the first time, I was completely hooked. There’s something so calming but also terrifying about swimming through those alien oceans, not knowing what’s out there. The world doesn’t hold your hand, but that’s what makes exploring it so satisfying. It honestly breaks my heart to see how the development of the Subnautica 2 is going.
XI_Vanquish_IX
This is going to be a lawsuit. Of that I have little doubt
verysimplenames
“Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds in 2021, three years after the hit undersea survival game Subnautica left early access and went into full release. The purchase agreement, according to Bloomberg, included the $250 million bonus, payable if the studio achieved specific revenue targets by the end of 2025; with Subnautica 2 delayed into 2026, those targets are unlikely to be met, and thus the bonus will not be payable.”
I wonder how close to these targets they are. We have a chance to do the funniest thing.
Archangelcrewman
With news like that I hope the game is dead on arrival and it sells horribly. Here’s hoping the original devs are able to get back in or create a new IP that I will buy.
BenWhite101
This needs far more attention, this is absolutely horrible for those devs
Tactless_Ninja
Boycott. They can’t get away with this.
rasa2013
Stuff like this just reminds me peak capitalism is just figuring new ways to cheat people so the rich get richer. It is ruinous for most people when left unchecked, and game development is not an exception.
stewcelliott
“New CEO Steve Papoutsis apparently told employees that there’s no indication the delay was made “specifically to impact any earnout.”” Well that’s okay then. Why yes I **was** born yesterday, how can you tell?
dafunkmunk
Bad news for anyone excited about this game. This is very likely going to end up in developmental hell. If this ever launches, it will either be stuck on early access with very slow limited updates for a very long time likely while some legal battle is happening on the background or it will end up like KSP2 being completely abandoned because the entire team get fired
Dopa-Down_Syndrome
This gotta be illegal. Krafton are some slimy mother fuckers.
RationalBeliever
This is also a failure of Unknown Worlds’s lawyers. They should have anticipated this possibility. The developer should have retained independence post acquisition for a period of time.
LaserGadgets
So first they wanna split the bonus and give all employees a cut, not its gone and instead of “ready for early access” its delayed!?
What a fuckin mess -.- Subnautica was a hit! Why did they even sell their company? Greed always ruins everything. Won’t buy first day or even first week. On sale…someday.
TechSupportIgit
At least Krafton opened themselves up to a massive lawsuit by Unknown Worlds. For a 250 million bonus, there’s going to be blood spilt.
Kinda fitting with Subnautica now that I think about it.
CJDistasio
Getting a short term influx of cash I’m sure is always attractive to indie devs when they’re approach for an acquisition. This sort of stuff long term just shows how it’s just not worth it.
LewAshby309
That’s the huge issue if you don’t keep your own company and decide for money.
They sold themselves out in 2021. They lost the control over decisionmaking just to aquire more funding for the game and for the previous owners to sell their shares to realize private funds. Shady what happens right now but that’s a direct consequence for their decisions. You lose the control even if anyone promises you whatever.
For what? Both subnauticas were great games. They could have done another great one without selling out. If the project has to be bigger a) size down a bit or b) get other ways of funding. But i guess the dollar signs in the eyes were too big.
Just for money the previous owners lost what they build up for years.
JimHawking
so they had 250 million corrupt evil fucking asshole reasons to do what they did nothing else
Present-Cow3346
Get lawyers involved now
Nerv_Agent_666
These are the same hacks that were behind the Calysto Protocol right?
28 Comments
KSP 2 vibes. They did their devs dirty too.
the old *yoink* move.
Oh I see. They did that shit on purpose because unknown worlds was doing a good job and krafton wanted to not pay out.
What does this mean for them?
the situation is so weird, i dunno what to think about it.
On the one hand you could say that MAYBE the ceos that got fired (original) wanted the payout for their employees and were going to potentially release the game in a broken state so they could get it, which obviously the publisher dont want cus they want more money
On the other hand as this article hints maybe the publisher heard news it was indeed gunna release and are trying to save giving the studio that money at all costs.
Im more inclined to believe the latter tbh just because of how scummy publisher usually are and there arent many big publishers that care about a game releasing in a good state lol. But once again idk, will have to see if more comes out. Either way its super sad for the devs, thats life changing amounts of money if they were gunna share it amongst the staff so my hearts go out to em
I mean no offense, but shouldn’t there be language in the contract the predicts a pretend delay to nix the agreement and a payout if the leads are cut before the payout date. Seems very sus that they couldn’t easily counter-sue against this.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM
Whyd it have to subnautica. I just wanted akwire new blue prints.
…the contract for “new owner pays us $250m if we hit these revenue targets” also gave the new owner the ability to delay the release date of the game that might have made them that revenue? Why the hell would they ever agree to that and expect to be able to make that money?
imagine selling your ass to chinese mobile game company and expect to not be screwed.
4 panel meme about “animals being stupid and being caught in human made traps” all over again.
This game is cooked.
I didn’t expect Subnautica to hit me this hard. At first, I thought it was just another survival game, but it ended up being one of the most immersive and emotional experiences I’ve ever had in gaming. The moment I stepped into the water for the first time, I was completely hooked. There’s something so calming but also terrifying about swimming through those alien oceans, not knowing what’s out there. The world doesn’t hold your hand, but that’s what makes exploring it so satisfying. It honestly breaks my heart to see how the development of the Subnautica 2 is going.
This is going to be a lawsuit. Of that I have little doubt
“Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds in 2021, three years after the hit undersea survival game Subnautica left early access and went into full release. The purchase agreement, according to Bloomberg, included the $250 million bonus, payable if the studio achieved specific revenue targets by the end of 2025; with Subnautica 2 delayed into 2026, those targets are unlikely to be met, and thus the bonus will not be payable.”
I wonder how close to these targets they are. We have a chance to do the funniest thing.
With news like that I hope the game is dead on arrival and it sells horribly. Here’s hoping the original devs are able to get back in or create a new IP that I will buy.
This needs far more attention, this is absolutely horrible for those devs
Boycott. They can’t get away with this.
Stuff like this just reminds me peak capitalism is just figuring new ways to cheat people so the rich get richer. It is ruinous for most people when left unchecked, and game development is not an exception.
“New CEO Steve Papoutsis apparently told employees that there’s no indication the delay was made “specifically to impact any earnout.”” Well that’s okay then. Why yes I **was** born yesterday, how can you tell?
Bad news for anyone excited about this game. This is very likely going to end up in developmental hell. If this ever launches, it will either be stuck on early access with very slow limited updates for a very long time likely while some legal battle is happening on the background or it will end up like KSP2 being completely abandoned because the entire team get fired
This gotta be illegal. Krafton are some slimy mother fuckers.
This is also a failure of Unknown Worlds’s lawyers. They should have anticipated this possibility. The developer should have retained independence post acquisition for a period of time.
So first they wanna split the bonus and give all employees a cut, not its gone and instead of “ready for early access” its delayed!?
What a fuckin mess -.- Subnautica was a hit! Why did they even sell their company? Greed always ruins everything. Won’t buy first day or even first week. On sale…someday.
At least Krafton opened themselves up to a massive lawsuit by Unknown Worlds. For a 250 million bonus, there’s going to be blood spilt.
Kinda fitting with Subnautica now that I think about it.
Getting a short term influx of cash I’m sure is always attractive to indie devs when they’re approach for an acquisition. This sort of stuff long term just shows how it’s just not worth it.
That’s the huge issue if you don’t keep your own company and decide for money.
They sold themselves out in 2021. They lost the control over decisionmaking just to aquire more funding for the game and for the previous owners to sell their shares to realize private funds. Shady what happens right now but that’s a direct consequence for their decisions. You lose the control even if anyone promises you whatever.
For what? Both subnauticas were great games. They could have done another great one without selling out. If the project has to be bigger a) size down a bit or b) get other ways of funding. But i guess the dollar signs in the eyes were too big.
Just for money the previous owners lost what they build up for years.
so they had 250 million corrupt evil fucking asshole reasons to do what they did nothing else
Get lawyers involved now
These are the same hacks that were behind the Calysto Protocol right?