Subnautica 2 developer says Krafton asked AI how to avoid paying bonuses

this legal battle The relationship between the former head of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton has taken another turn. In new court filings, Subnautica director and designer Charlie Cleveland, Unknown Worlds co-founder Max McGuire and former CEO Ted Gill allege that Krafton executives turned to artificial intelligence as part of an effort to extricate themselves from trouble $250 million prize if Subnautica 2 Certain financial goals are achieved.

The latest document centers on a discovery-obtained exchange between Krafton CEO Kim Chang-han and the company's head of global operations, Richard Yoon. It is reported my city“Kim turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid payment. ChatGPT similarly stated that 'removing the payment' would be difficult,” the filing states.

The founders also claim that Krafton refuses to provide these ChatGPT conversations and says they no longer exist. However, a series of messages between Kim and Yoon seemed to indicate that Krafton was unable to renegotiate a lower bonus payout, leading Yoon to say that “it might be easier to take over (the unknown)” rather than get better terms.

September, Krafton revamps its legal filings against the previous leadership team. Krafton has previously argued that the founders intended to launch an early access version of Subnautica 2 before it was ready to secure their performance bonuses. When asked to provide evidence, Crafton retracted that claim and now accuses the founder of downloading files and retaining devices containing confidential information. Crafton also argued that this retroactively justified their dismissal, although this was not revealed until after they were fired.

Krafton recently declared itself an “AI-first company,” leading Unknown Worlds to issue a statement saying: Subnautica 2 will not use generative AI.

Subnautica 2 is expected to be released in early access on PC and Xbox Series X|S in 2026.