Court documents show that the CEO of Krafton relied on ChatGPT to formulate a plan to deny the developers behind the upcoming underwater survival game Subnautica 2 and take control of the studio and the game. This plan was illegal and a breach of contract, according to a judge in Delaware.
The messy legal battle that started in 2025 between Krafton and Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds finally wrapped up earlier today, with a judge declaring that the South Korean publisher had breached its contract after firing the studio’s co-founders without cause and taking control of Subnautica 2 and the company. In the court docs from the case, it was revealed that Krafton CEO Changhan Kim used an AI chatbot ChatGPT to prepare the plans to cut Unknown Worlds out of a deal that would have paid millions and to take control over the future of Subnautica 2 on Steam.
“As Unknown Worlds prepared to release its hotly anticipated sequel, Subnautica 2, the parties’ relationship fractured,” Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will said in her opinion filed on March 16.
“Internal projections showed the new title generating significant revenue that would easily trigger the earnout. Fearing he had agreed to a “pushover” contract, Krafton’s CEO consulted an artificial intelligence chatbot to contrive a corporate ‘takeover” strategy.’”
In June 2025, when Maria Park, Krafton’s head of corporate development, told Kim that firing the co-founders without cause wouldn’t void the earnout and might lead to a lawsuit, Kim “turned to ChatGPT for help,” wrote the judge.
“When the AI chatbot responded that the earnout would be ‘difficult to cancel,’ Kim complained to Park,” explained the judge. “At ChatGPT’s suggestion, Kim formed an internal task force, dubbed “Project X. The task force’s mandate was to either negotiate a ‘deal’ on the earnout or execute a ‘Take Over’ of Unknown Worlds. They looked to buy time.”
As the relationship between Krafton and Unknown Worlds further fell apart, Kim continued to rely on ChatGPT for guidance.
“Meanwhile, Kim sought ChatGPT’s counsel on how to proceed if Krafton failed to reach a deal with Unknown Worlds on the earnout. The AI chatbot prepared a ‘Response Strategy to a ‘No-Deal’ Scenario,’ which Kim shared with [another executive.] The strategy included a ‘pressure and leverage package’ and an ‘implementation roadmap by scenario.’ Over the next month, Krafton followed most of ChatGPT’s recommendations.”
This included a message to fans, lying about the co-founder’s intentions, taking control of Subautica 2 on Steam, and more.
This all ended up being a big mistake for Krafton and Kim. The judge has now extended the period of time that the team has to receive the $250 million earnout under the terms that Unknown Worlds agreed to when Krafton bought the company. The cofounders are now eligible to collect the bonus for performance of the studio up through September 15, 2026. Meanwhile, the original CEO of the studio, Ted Gill, is being given his job back, and Krafton can’t interfere with his plans for Subnautica 2′s early access launch.
