Following a year of acrimonious legal tussling and a settlement agreeing to pay bonuses to Unknown Worlds developers, Krafton has now pledged to turn the Subnautica series into a "franchise IP" amid confirmation Subnautica 2 has surpassed 5m sales. As such, the Subnautica series - which includes the original game, its Below Zero standalone expansion, and this year's sequel - generated 232.5 KRW revenue (approximately £121m) in the first half of Krafton's current financial year. The publisher added it "plans to maintain stable service through full launch and develop Subnautica into a franchise IP." Then, things took a dramatic turn earlier this year when a US judge ruled in the ousted Unknown Worlds' teams favour. As for Subnautica 2 itself, Unknown Worlds successfully delivered an enormously entertaining early access release back in May, despite all the drama surrounding the game.