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Amid the recently concluded litigation between Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton and the game's original developers following leadership changes and a subsequent 2026 delay – Subnautica 2's former leads claim they're owed a whopping $250 million – accusations involving AI chatbot ChatGPT have surfaced.
As a quick recap – Unknown Worlds (the studio behind the development of Subnautica 2) founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, along with former CEO Ted Gill, claimed that they're owed money for hitting revenue milestones after Krafton's $500 million acquisition in 2021. More recently, the three devs accused Krafton lead Kim Chang-han of using ChatGPT "to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earnout."
Krafton then asserted in an opposition document that, despite attempts to do so, it "has not located the search histories" the ex-Unknown Worlds heads want to see, insisting that the efforts to acquire them are "a last-ditch effort to find something, anything," to support their claims. The situation is even more complicated now, however, as new court transcripts, including one seen by PC Gamer, and one obtained by GamesRadar+, show Krafton leadership admitting to using ChatGPT for "faster answers."
Kim explains, via translator, that he first "started discussing this matter with various teams within the company to find – to figure out what we could do," when asked how he reacted to learning Cleveland and McGuire weren't directly involved in Subnautica 2's development. "So I talked to the legal team, the finance team, and the corporate team, and the PR, all these various teams," Kim continues. Then comes ChatGPT.
"And I also actually searched on ChatGPT to get faster answers to figure out what kind of rights we have." Kim is asked why he would consult with the chatbot on such a matter, to which he responds, "I think, just like everyone else, I am using ChatGPT to get faster answers or responses, just like Google search." During cross-examination, lawyers representing the past Unknown Worlds executives point to a specific example of Kim's use of ChatGPT.
In a June 2 message to Maria Park, Krafton's head of corporate development, Kim included a link to ChatGPT and referenced the advice it gave him: "Now, ChatGPT [is] start[ing] to answer that it is difficult to cancel the earnout," he wrote. "If so, this is a contract under which we can only be dragged around." Although this instance of chatbot usage was deleted afterward, the Unknown Worlds attorneys say others from the same period weren't.
Kim replied that he deleted such chats as he "learned" that "if you use certain important information concerning your company, then that type of information can be used by OpenAI for learning purposes." He isn't wrong – but it's certainly an interesting statement considering the situation at hand as a whole, as well as Krafton's recent surprise rebranding as an "AI first" company… one it said comes with "the era of AI transformation."
In a trial transcript from November 19, Krafton's vice president of global strategy Dr. Richard Yoon agrees that Kim sent him messages of "GPT making recommendations."
"He should return to Korea as soon as possible and start working and start working with humans," Krafton executives commented, according to a cross examination lawyer.
Krafton tells GamesRadar+ in a statement, "We are grateful to the court for its thorough commitment to understanding the facts, and we are confident we have demonstrated our commitment to delivering the best game possible to our fans. We made clear to the court that 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."
"We look forward to receiving a decision," Krafton continues. "We have made incredible progress in the past few months, and we are excited to share with all the Subnautica fans."
There's no telling how the legal battle between the publisher and Unknown Worlds will conclude, but it has spent some time heating up. Here's hoping Subnautica 2 fans still get to see the survival sequel they've waited so long for one day.
