It seems like every week we are getting some unfortunate AI-related news in the gaming industry, but this one is one of the strangest. Apparently, Krafton’s CEO Kim Chang-han whipped out ChatGPT to figure out ways he could get away with not paying big bonuses to Unknown Worlds’ developers ahead of Subnautica 2’s launch.
You’ve probably heard of games using AI art and begging devs to quit ahead of a new AI-first direction, but that’s apparently not where the use of AI ends for gaming companies in 2025. Now, they’re using AI to avoid paying people what they were promised.
Subnautica 2 fired devs still fighting with Krafton after takeover
This mess goes way back to 2021, when Chinese publisher Unknown Worlds was purchaesd by Korean developer Krafton. Yes, the same place that proudly announced it would become an AI-first company. Whatever that means.
At first, Krafton promised Unknown Worlds that it could operate independently, continuing its Subnautica 2 plans after the success of the first game. However, Krafton abruptly announced that it was dropping the three co-founders to replace them with Steve Papoutsis. It’s assumed that Krafton did this at the time because it was sick of the studio delaying the game’s release.
However, the cofounders are now suing Krafton, claiming that this was done to avoid paying them the $250 million bonus they were promised if Subnautica 2 hit certain sales milestones. It then came out that Krafton was possibly the one responsible for the delay of Subnautica 2’s early access in an attempt to miss some of those benchmarks and avoid the payout.
Krafton denied these claims, stating that the three cofounders were fired because they had “abandoned” the game, even accusing one of the founders of pursuing a personal film project rather than prioritizing Subnautica 2.
Krafton added: “We reaffirm our commitment to provide the rewards they were promised.“
Okay, following so far? We’re now caught up to the present day, where the cofounders Charles Cleveland, Adam “Max” McGuire, and Edward “Ted” Gill’s pre-trial briefing accuses Krafton of terminating them, seizing control of Unknown Worlds, and devising a deal to “cancel the earn-out.”
It reads: “Smoking gun documents show that Krafton was looking for ways to ‘cancel the earn-out’ and that its secret ‘Project X’ was designed to either make a ‘Deal’ on the earnout or execute a ‘Take over.’” Basically, Krafton felt a takeover was easier than dealing with the founders, who did not agree with its demands.
There are even conversations between Chang-han and Head of Global Operations Richard Yoon in the lawsuit that support this.
The filings then accused Chang-han of using ChatGPT to figure out ways to get out of paying the bonus. The filing stated: “[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 earnout. ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earn-out.’”
Of course, Chang-han denied using ChatGPT.
Subnautica 2 drama turns into a he-said-she-said drama fest
So now, the back-and-forth continues. Krafton claims the cofounders “intentionally” deceived them about various studio changes and the cofounders shot back that Krafton was aware of everything and argued that the firings ruined the studio’s morale and slowed down development.
“Krafton’s own internal report captured the damage: employees cited ‘a significant lack of trust in Krafton,’ frustration that support for Subnautica 2 had been pulled in the weeks before launch, and fear that anyone who pushed back could be fired,” the filing reads. “The open, transparent culture that defined Unknown Worlds—and fueled its open development success—gave way to silence and unease.”
Then Krafton came back with its own claims. Again. Now it states it was forced to fire the cofounders when they “showed little interest” in Subnautica 2’s development.
“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 said to Kotaku.
Subnautica 2 is coming out sometime in 2026, who even fucking knows. I have a headache.
The post Subnautica 2’s former devs accuse Krafton of using ChatGPT to figure out how to get out of paying bonus and I’m sick of hearing about it appeared first on The Escapist.