Facepalm: People turn to ChatGPT for answers to all kinds of problems these days. Krafton CEO Changhan Kim, for example, is alleged to have used the AI to try to avoid paying a massive bonus to Unknown Worlds co-founders if Subnautica 2 reached certain sales figures.
It's claimed that Kim fired the the co-founders to avoid the bonus payout. It was part of Krafton's 2021 acquisition of Unknown Worlds, a deal reported to be worth around $500 million up front with up to $250 million in performance-based bonuses tied to Subnautica 2's commercial success by the end of 2025.
Subnautica designer and director Charlie Cleveland, CEO Ted Gill, and studio co-founder Max McGuire left Unknown Worlds in July. Around 90% of the potential bonus pool was reportedly allocated to the three executives, giving them a major stake in seeing Subnautica 2 release on schedule. Their exit came shortly after Krafton's finance department forecast a base-case earnout of $191 million – suggesting the payout was highly likely if the game launched within the original timeframe.
Krafton later said the three were fired due to the state of Subnautica 2 and their determination to release the game before it was ready. The company also cited an internal milestone review from May 2025 that concluded the game needed roughly 30% more content, which Krafton confirmed as genuine. It later changed its claim, deciding instead that the founders had deceived the company, including downloading confidential information relating to Subnautica 2 and lying about job changes and other important studio business. Krafton accused the trio of "losing interest" in the project, abandoning responsibilities, and secretly downloading "massive amounts" of internal files shortly before their termination.
In a pretrial brief (via Game Developer) filed by Fortis Advisors on behalf of the Unknown Worlds co-founders, Kim is accused of using any means necessary to delay the launch of the title and avoid making the multi-million-dollar payout, thereby stopping any embarrassment and potentially saving his job. Plaintiffs allege that Krafton believed it had overpaid for Unknown Worlds in 2021 and was therefore highly motivated to avoid triggering the large earnout.
"Krafton fired the Founders and delayed the launch of Subnautica 2 to avoid paying the earnout. That is what Plaintiff alleged in its complaint, and that is what the evidence will show at trial," reads the briefing. "After Krafton's finance department, in May 2025, forecast a base-case earnout of $191 million, Krafton needed a way to 'cancel the earn-out.'"
The filing includes excerpts of internal communications between Kim and Unknown Worlds' newly appointed CFO Richard Yoon. A takeover is discussed, and Kim seems to be offering a much lower bonus figure than what the founders and development team wanted. Plaintiffs claim this was part of a covert effort – referred to internally as "Project X" – either to force a delay of Subnautica 2 or to find a way to terminate the founders "for cause," which would void the bonus.
The filing also states that Kim was told it was highly likely the payout would be made regardless of a dismissal with cause, so he allegedly turned to ChatGPT to brainstorm ways of escaping the obligation. But even the chatbot advised that canceling the earn-out would be difficult. It's also claimed that Krafton refused to "produce the ChatGPT conversations and, when pressed, confirmed that they no longer exist."
Subnautica 2's early access release, originally planned for late 2025, was officially delayed into 2026 – against the wishes of the former leadership, according to the lawsuit. Because the earnout window ends in 2025, the delay effectively prevents the payout from being triggered.
In a statement to Kotaku, Krafton said that the ChatGPT claim is not true and "simply a distraction from their own efforts to destroy evidence, such as Charlie's reminder to the other Key Employees (Max and Ted) to delete anything 'incriminating' from their own ChatGPT accounts." The company maintains that the delay was motivated solely by the game's condition and not by contractual or financial considerations.
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