In the latest chapter of the ongoing feud between the co-founders of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton, the latter’s CEO has now been accused of using ChatGPT to help him figure out a way to avoid paying Subnautica 2’s developers their bonuses. The accusation comes from a pre-trial brief filed by lawyers representing Charlie Cleveland, Ted Gill and Max McGuire.
According to the brief, Krafton CEO Changham Kim was “desperate” to avoid paying the bonuses to Unknown Worlds related to the originally-planned Early Access release of Subnautica 2. This desperation was seemingly so that Kim could avoid the “professional embarrassment” of being perceived as having overpaid for the studio when Krafton had acquired Unknown Worlds.
“Desperate to avoid such a professional embarrassment, Kim obsessed over finding a way to avoid Krafton’s obligation to pay the earn-out,” reads the brief. “[Krafton’s global head of corporate development Maria Park] told Kim that ‘it seems to be highly likely that the earn-out will still be paid if the sales goal is achieved regardless of the dismissal with cause.’ Kim turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earn-out. ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earn-out.’ But Kim was undeterred.”
The brief goes on to allege that this ultimately prompted Krafton to push back the Early Access release of Subnautica 2 to a later date, which would also end up pushing the release outside the window to which the bonus earn-outs were tied. “”That way, Krafton could avoid paying the earn-out, but still profit from the game’s eventual hit sales,” continues the brief.
The lawsuit first emerged with the three co-founders announcing that they would be pursuing legal action against Krafton for delaying the Early Access release of Subnautica 2, as well as the publisher blaming an “absence of core leadership” at the studio, which also led to the publisher replacing the studio’s leadership with Striking Distance CEO Steve Papoutsis taking over.
Krafton had in turn accused the three co-founders of abandoning the studio, as well as downloading confidential data. In its own filing, the publisher had accused the trio of having “resorted to litigation to demand a multimillion-dollar payday they haven’t earned” rather than working with the studio to meet the conditions necessary for the earn-out. The publisher also noted that the co-founders had presented themselves as “the visionaries behind Unknown Worlds Success and they key to its future” in the negotiations part of the company’s acquisition of the studio.
Back in September, Cleveland, Gill and McGuire had also accused Krafton of “pivoting to a new theory” in the middle of litigation. The trio said in a new filing that the company “terminated the Founders and seized control because the Founders backed up files they were entitled to access in their work for Unknown Worlds.”
For its part, Unknown Worlds has largely stayed out of the fight, electing instead to continue its work on Subnautica 2. September saw the studio releasing a new developer vlog that showcased one of the new Leviathans that will be making their debut in the game when it comes out in 2026.
