Subnautica 2 launched into Early Access today and immediately broke through 2 million copies sold in its first 12 hours. Peak concurrent players across Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox hit 651,000 — with Steam alone reaching 467,000 at its peak. That’s roughly nine times the all-time concurrent record of the original Subnautica.
The numbers are impressive on their own. But the context makes them something else entirely.
Last July, Krafton — the Korean publisher that owns developer Unknown Worlds — gutted the studio’s entire leadership team. The reason, according to a subsequent lawsuit: CEO Changham Kim wanted to avoid paying out a $250 million bonus tied to Subnautica 2’s sales performance. Court filings accused Krafton of deliberately delaying the game to push it outside the bonus window, and during cross-examination, Kim admitted he had consulted ChatGPT for advice on how to handle the situation.
A judge didn’t see it the same way. Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill was ordered reinstated, with Krafton ruled to have materially breached its contract. The studio was given nine additional months to hit the sales targets — and now, on day one, they’ve sold 2 million copies.
It’s not confirmed whether that clears the $250 million threshold, but the trajectory is hard to argue with. Subnautica 2 was Steam’s most wishlisted game heading into launch. The audience was there. The game delivered.
Whether this ends the legal dispute or just moves it to the next chapter, it’s one of the more satisfying turnarounds the industry has seen in a while — a reminder that corporate drama in gaming doesn’t always end the way executives plan.
