The popularly expected open world adventure game, Deep Sea Lost 2: Alien Waters, officially launched on the evening of 14 May, with over 100,000 online players starting the game, reaching 370,000 in 30 minutes, and up to 467,582 online players, according to SteamDB data.
One hour after the launch of Deep Sea Lost 2: Alien Waters, official publications on social platforms announced that the game sales had exceeded 1 million. It is worth mentioning that Deep Sea Lost 2 has been one of the most expected games on Steam, with a total of 5 million wish sheets in the days before the game was sold.
In other words, more than 80 per cent of the players who have added Deep Sea Lost 2 to the Wish List have not yet purchased it, and it is therefore hoped that soon there will be a surge in game sales. In particular, given the presence of a large number of players who have not joined the wish list, combined with the “specially good” assessment on Steam, there is no doubt that a large number of players who are still watching will be able to dispel concerns about the quality of the first-ever experience.
One million dollars is certainly good news for the developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment, but its parent company Krafton may not be able to laugh. In 2021, Krafton committed a leveraged wager in an equity purchase agreement because of insufficient funding for the acquisition of Unknown Worlds: If the sales of Deep Sea Convey 2 reach between 2 and 3 million by the end of the year, the upper floor of the studio will receive a significant share of up to $250 million.
The Tribunal documents show that, as Deep Sea Consort 2 has demonstrated its enormous gold-absorption potential, Chief Executive Officer Kim Chang-han of Krafton fears that the agreement “too much to lose” would jeopardize his CEO’s status, and thus set up a covert team called Project X, which began to find ways to lose the bonus. More than 90 pages of opinion were disclosed in the judgement, and Kim Chang-han turned to ChatGPT in an attempt to circumvent the counter-offensive strategy for the payment of the bonus after being reminded by a high-level official that “the founder must still pay the bonus for his unprovoked dismissal”.
In July 2025, Krafton used radical means to forcibly dismiss Ted Gill, CEO of Unknown Worlds, and the co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire. Subsequently, Krafton deliberately delayed the release of the game and, in turn, accused Unknown Worlds’ founding team of “neglect” and “the theft of confidential company data” in an attempt to delay the expiry of the gambling agreement.
In March 2026, United States Court Judge Lori W. Will, in his judgement, denounced Krafton’s conduct as “mistake of power” and “unjustified and malicious dismissal”, which constituted a serious breach of the law and required his rectification. This included the reinstatement of the dismissed CEO Ted Gill immediate officer and the full restoration of operational and decision-making power over Unknown Worlds. Krafton must immediately return to the studio’s backstage access to and control of the game, Steam.
In protest, Unknown Worlds completely removed the name “Krafton” from the game’s Steam Shop issuer’s page. Although Unknown Worlds remained a subsidiary in the stockholding, the relationship of trust between the two companies was completely poisoned.
As a result of Krafton ‘ s malicious intervention, the court decided to impose a nine-month extension of the window for the $250 million bonus (September 2026), giving the development team sufficient time. Krafton may not be in a position to repent, given that one third of the target sales was completed within one hour of the sale of Deep Sea Convey II and that the court extended the deadline.