Subnautica 2 Sells Over 1 Million Copies In Less Than Two Hours

"Subnautica 2 launched on Steam via early access earlier today after a prolonged and messy legal battle between publisher Krafton and developer Unknown Worlds. In less than two hours, the highly-anticipated underwater survival game was able to sell over a million copies. It seems very likely that Krafton will be forced to pay that $250 million bonus it tried so hard to avoid."

"On May 14, the official Subnautica 2 Twitter account tweeted that the survival sequel had already sold over 1 million copies on Steam. In the social media post, the devs thanked all of the game's fans for the support. Meanwhile, according to data from SteamDB, Subnautica 2 reached a massive 467,000 concurrent players on Steam in the hours after it launched."

"As we learned in March, as part of the legal battle between Krafton and the devs that started back in 2025, Krafton CEO Changhan Kim used an AI chatbot to try to figure out a way to avoid paying a $250 million bonus payment to Unknown Worlds. That bonus was connected to Krafton's purchase of the studio and would trigger if the company's upcoming Subnautica 2 generated enough revenue in a specific amount of time."

"When projections showed that the upcoming survival game would probably hit those numbers and trigger the payout, Kim began relying on ChatGPT to formulate a plan to stop or stall the payout, which involved firing the heads of the studio and taking control of the game. In March, a judge ultimately sided with Unknown Worlds, giving the studio control of the game."

Subnautica 2 launched on Steam through early access and sold more than one million copies in under two hours. The game reached about 467,000 concurrent players shortly after release, and it has over 1,000 reviews with a “Very Positive” user rating on Steam. Unknown Worlds credited fans for the support. The launch follows a legal dispute between Krafton and Unknown Worlds involving a $250 million bonus tied to revenue performance after Krafton’s acquisition of the studio. Court documents indicate Krafton leadership used an AI chatbot to avoid triggering the bonus, including plans involving control changes to the game. A judge previously ruled in favor of Unknown Worlds, granting the studio control of the game.

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