this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2025
157 points (100.0% liked)
Games
21166 readers
120 users here now
Video game news oriented community. No NanoUFO is not a bot :)
Posts.
- News oriented content (general reviews, previews or retrospectives allowed).
- Broad discussion posts (preferably not only about a specific game).
- No humor/memes etc..
- No affiliate links
- No advertising.
- No clickbait, editorialized, sensational titles. State the game in question in the title. No all caps.
- No self promotion.
- No duplicate posts, newer post will be deleted unless there is more discussion in one of the posts.
- No politics.
Comments.
- No personal attacks.
- Obey instance rules.
- No low effort comments(one or two words, emoji etc..)
- Please use spoiler tags for spoilers.
My goal is just to have a community where people can go and see what new game news is out for the day and comment on it.
Other communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
So from what I understand. That 250$ million bonus to "employees" was almost all going to like 3 people. The smaller bonus that was going to actual employees, they said they would honor it anyways.
I'm happy those three founders gave us the first subnautica, but I'd rather a better game on release then something rushed so they get a payday (they also already got paid when they sold their company in any case).
Really hard to say who is in the right without having gameplay footage or real details, but it wouldn't surprise me if it does need more time and it was going to come out as a mess.
Well first, this deal was part of that sale. That'd be like someone's boss pocketing a tip and telling the waitress "you don't deserve this tip you already got paid" or a salesman "you get something hourly, why would you need this commission?"
They worked for it, after the sale, because it was in their contract.
That said, the company didn't even say it was a mess. They said that they needed something like, one more biome, one more leviathan, a few bits and bobs like that. Requirements that they added on later in development, that those three guys say aren't needed.
I really wanna hear from the other devs, the ones under the 3. Theirs is the opinion I'd trust in this mess. But I'm leaning towards corporate fuckery, personally.
It's a lot of money. There are huge incentives on both sides to do the wrong thing (either delay a finished game or push out something half baked).
That being said, the current course of action, regardless of justification, is actually going to get us a better game in the end. So there is a sunny side to it for the consumer, which is kind of really rare when you think about it.
I would also love to hear from other workers.
What about this clusterfuck gives you the impression that this will improve the game beyond where it's already at?
The fact that it's getting delayed to add content?
if I was told my bonus isn't coming I would immediately start slacking
That's the thing tho, they said they would honor the bonus for every employee except those three. Granted the three were getting the lionshare of the bonus, almost all of it, so the publisher is still saving money but they aren't screwing over the actual people making the game in regards to this.
We get a delayed release with more content which is usually a good thing imo. Worse case scenario is three dudes getting screwed out of half of their 500$ million paycheck. Just pointing out that it isn't a bad situation per say for consumers. If the game was lacking, we are being done a favor.
You really need to start paying attention. The founders were already going to split the money between the entire crew, this isn't about quality control, and EA isn't supposed to be a major polished release.
Source saying the founders were gonna take the 225 million they were getting out of the 250 and spreading it with their crew?
Krafton said they were gonna pay the 25 million of the bonus meant for the crew regardless from what I understand, I think you are getting your facts mixed up (and being condescending about it).
No, I'm not. Almost all the coverage of this mentions the founders intentions to spread the bonus around at least in passing.
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-subnautica-2-is-delayed-potentially-costing-devs-a-250m-bonus-payout is one example.
Your article doesn't seem to mention it but I did find one that did. They aren't "splitting" it. They said they would give some money to the employees not eligible for the bonus. It might be like a 50 dollar gift card for all we know.
The 25 million is still going towards the employees as well, the official one in the contract (this part isn't up to the founders, they don't have control on the 25 mil).
I'm not sure what difference that makes towards what I'm saying? We dont know if the game is half baked or not. The courts can decide, but at least, we get a game with more content.
You're the one that focused on the money
Early Access is being delayed. They were releasing early access to let users give feedback. Now that feedback will be delayed, which allows them to make mistakes that may have been avoidable if they heard from players sooner.