Krafton, the parent company of Unknown Worlds, the developer behind Subnautica and Subnautica 2, has officially announced its acquisition of Eleventh Hour Games. Eleventh Hour Games is the game studio behind Last Epoch, a recently released ARPG that has supposedly sold as many as 3 million copies since it launched in 2024. The acquisition took place via a 100-percent buyout of Eleventh Hour Games shares, which cost Krafton $96 million.
Eleventh Hour Games CEO, Judd Cobler, said "Joining KRAFTON is a dream come true for Eleventh Hour Games. Their deep-rooted passion for ARPGs aligns perfectly with our mission. With KRAFTON's support, EHG is poised to elevate the Last Epoch franchise to even greater heights. As a studio built from players of the genre, we couldn't be more excited for its future." Krafton is known for some recent gaming heavyweights, including inZoi, the PUBG franchise, Hi-Fi Rush, and Subnautica. Krafton is currently in the beginnings of what appears to be shaping up to be a nasty legal battle with recently ousted Subnautica leads, as reported by VGC. The former Unknown Worlds executive trio, Ted Gill (ex-CEO), Charlie Cleveland (co-founder and ex-creative director), and Max McGuire (co-founder and ex-technical director), accuse Krafton of foul play, saying that they were fired, and the game was delayed under false pretenses so that Krafton could avoid paying out a $250 million bonus for meeting development and release deadlines on Subnautica 2.
This legal back-and-forth comes after Krafton made the decision to delay Subnautica 2, saying it is dedicated to "delivering the best possible game as quickly as possible to Subnautica's fans," and that "releasing the game prematurely with insufficient content, falling short of what fans expect in a sequel, would have both disappointed the players—who are at the heart of everything Krafton does—and damaged the reputations of both the Subnautica and Unknown Worlds brands." The ousted executives claim that Krafton was deliberately delaying the game in order to avoid the contractually obligated payouts.
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Eleventh Hour Games CEO, Judd Cobler, said "Joining KRAFTON is a dream come true for Eleventh Hour Games. Their deep-rooted passion for ARPGs aligns perfectly with our mission. With KRAFTON's support, EHG is poised to elevate the Last Epoch franchise to even greater heights. As a studio built from players of the genre, we couldn't be more excited for its future." Krafton is known for some recent gaming heavyweights, including inZoi, the PUBG franchise, Hi-Fi Rush, and Subnautica. Krafton is currently in the beginnings of what appears to be shaping up to be a nasty legal battle with recently ousted Subnautica leads, as reported by VGC. The former Unknown Worlds executive trio, Ted Gill (ex-CEO), Charlie Cleveland (co-founder and ex-creative director), and Max McGuire (co-founder and ex-technical director), accuse Krafton of foul play, saying that they were fired, and the game was delayed under false pretenses so that Krafton could avoid paying out a $250 million bonus for meeting development and release deadlines on Subnautica 2.
This legal back-and-forth comes after Krafton made the decision to delay Subnautica 2, saying it is dedicated to "delivering the best possible game as quickly as possible to Subnautica's fans," and that "releasing the game prematurely with insufficient content, falling short of what fans expect in a sequel, would have both disappointed the players—who are at the heart of everything Krafton does—and damaged the reputations of both the Subnautica and Unknown Worlds brands." The ousted executives claim that Krafton was deliberately delaying the game in order to avoid the contractually obligated payouts.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
