As the messy breakdown between Krafton and Subnautica 2 developer and subsidiary Unknown Worlds goes to court this week, an explosive new legal filing claims that Krafton's CEO discussed a takeover of the studio in Slack messages, and allegedly even turned to ChatGPT "to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earnout."
Unknown Worlds' entire leadership was fired amid a messy public falling out over a $250 million bonus from parent company, Krafton. For months now, most coverage about the sequel has concerned the painful breakdown between Unknown Worlds' founders and Krafton, which acquired Unknown Worlds in October 2021. Over the summer, reports came to light that Subnautica 2's early access release was delayed to 2026 just months before Krafton was due to pay a $250 million bonus to the development team "against the wishes of the studio’s former leadership."
Krafton issued a response to the lawsuit filed by former leads of Subnautica 2, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, offering rebuttals to the developers' claims and alleging they "resorted to litigation to demand a multimillion-dollar payout they haven't earned." Then, last month, Unknown Worlds itself sued its founders Cleveland, former CEO Ted Gill, and studio co-founder Max McGuire for allegedly stealing game design files shortly before they were fired.
Now, in new legal paperwork, the founders allege Krafton CEO CH Kim and Unknown Worlds newly-appointed CFO Richard Yoon discussed a potential takeover over Slack, and allegedly used ChatGPT for ideas on how to get out of paying the bonus, and set up a "secret task force" to take over the studio.
"In the lead-up to this decision, Krafton CEO CH Kim had become frustrated with the contract Krafton signed to acquire Unknown Worlds. From his seat, it had become a bad deal for Krafton — one 'under which [Krafton] can only be dragged around,'" the filing states.
"Krafton created a secret task force called 'Project X' whose mandate was simple: either make a 'deal' with the Founders on the 'earnout' or execute a 'Take Over' of Unknown Worlds. When the Founders refused to accede to Krafton’s demands, Krafton pulled the trigger.
"[Maria Park, Krafton's global head of corporate development] 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,'” the new filing adds. “Kim turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earnout. ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earn-out.'”
The cofounders allege that Krafton refused to "produce the ChatGPT conversations," later claiming "they no longer exist.”
The filing also seeks to bolster Unknown Worlds' claims that Subnautica 2 was indeed ready for its planned soft launch, stating that Unknown Worlds’ playtest data, presented to Krafton in May, "showed that the game met players’ expectations." Furthermore, Krafton’s "own internal expert declared that the planned 2025 release would be best (and that firing Ted Gill would result in a multi-year development delay)," and Maria Park wrote "the game was ready for an August launch."
In a statement to press, Krafton said: "There is nothing more important to us than ensuring the players get the best possible experience. We are looking forward to highlighting that all of our decisions have been focused on ensuring Subnautica 2 exceeds the high expectations that come from our players.
"We were forced to make a change when the former leaders showed little interest in the development of Subnautica 2, which has always been our top priority. Now, this trial comes down to plaintiffs asking to be restored to jobs they were not doing, said they had no interest in doing, and had previously declined requests that they come back and do those jobs.
"Krafton remains focused on what matters: delivering the best possible game to Subnautica’s fans."
As for Subnautica 2 itself? Developer Unknown Worlds recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at an all-new deep-sea predator, and "how the team has used Unreal Engine 5 AI for lifelike behavior, real-time reactions and tense encounters for player." The 10-minute vlog is one of the first development updates we've had since the legal wrangling began over the summer.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
