Subnautica 2 hits 5 million sales in 22 days as Krafton commits to franchise

Subnautica 2 has crossed 5 million units sold just 22 days after its early access launch on PC and Xbox Series X/S on May 14th, Krafton confirmed in its Q2 2026 financial earnings report. The publisher says the entire Subnautica series — the original game, Below Zero, and the new sequel — generated 232.5 billion KRW (roughly £121 million) in the first half of its current financial year.

Krafton says it plans to "maintain stable service through full launch" and develop Subnautica into a "franchise IP." That's a significant public commitment for a series that spent much of the past year mired in legal chaos rather than generating headlines about sales milestones.

The backdrop to this success is messy. Krafton ousted Unknown Worlds co-founder and original Subnautica director Charlie Cleveland, CEO Ted Gill, and special projects director Max McGuire last year, reportedly after deciding to push Subnautica 2's early access window from 2025 into 2026 — a move the leadership team allegedly opposed. Critics pointed out the delay would make it harder for the studio to hit the revenue targets tied to a $250 million bonus promised to developers at the time of Krafton's 2021 acquisition. The situation escalated when it was alleged Krafton's CEO had consulted ChatGPT for ways to avoid paying that bonus. A US judge eventually ruled in the ousted team's favour and reinstated Gill as CEO, though he later stepped down as part of a settlement. Under that deal, Krafton agreed to pay bonuses to all current Unknown Worlds staff — not just the original acquisition employees — with Gill telling Bloomberg that employees would be "compensated significantly more" than the original agreement required, plus receive "further incentives" as the game continues to be updated.

With 5 million copies sold in under a month and a publisher now publicly backing franchise expansion, Subnautica 2 has landed in a far stronger position than the legal drama suggested it might. The full launch is still ahead, and Krafton's franchise ambitions will depend on how well the team — now with a settled bonus structure — can deliver on the early access promise.