Krafton\u2019s internal sales projections for Subnautica 2 looked great, and looked like it would be on the hook for the additional $250 million. In an attempt to avoid paying this, Krafton CEO Changhan Kim turned to ChatGPT for help avoiding paying the developers the $250 million bonus. \u201cAs Unknown Worlds prepared to release its hotly anticipated sequel, Subnautica 2, the parties\u2019 relationship fractured,\u201d the court decision said. \u201cFearing he had agreed to a \u2018pushover\u2019 contract, Krafton\u2019s CEO consulted an artificial intelligence chatbot to contrive a corporate \u2018takeover\u2019 strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim partnered with Krafton Head of Corporate Development Maria Park and the company\u2019s legal team to work out options. He toyed with finding a reason to fire the founders. According to court records, Park pinged Kim on Slack and told him that attempting to avoid paying the bonus would be legally risky. \u201cHi CEO . . . 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,\u201d the Slack message said according to court records. \u201cTherefore, there isn\u2019t much that we can practically gain other than punishment with a simple dismissal alone, whereas I am worried that we may be exposed to lawsuit and reputation risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the CEO would not accept defeat. \u201cAnd so Kim turned to ChatGPT for help,\u201d court records said. \u201cWhen the AI chatbot responded that the earnout would be \u2018difficult to cancel,\u2019 Kim complained to Park that the [payout] was a \u2018contract under which we can only be dragged around.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim pressed the chatbot for an answer. \u201cAt ChatGPT\u2019s suggestion, Kim formed an internal task force, dubbed \u2018Project X.\u2019 The task force\u2019s mandate was to either negotiate a \u2018deal\u2019 on the earnout or execute a \u2018Take Over\u2019 of Unknown Worlds. They looked to buy time,\u201d court records said. \u201cKim sought ChatGPT\u2019s counsel on how to proceed if Krafton failed to reach a deal with Unknown Worlds on the earnout. The AI chatbot prepared a \u2018Response Strategy\u2019 to a \u2018No-Deal\u2019 Scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was a piece of ChatGPT\u2019s \u201cProject X\u201d for Krafton:<\/p>\n
\u201ca. Preemptive Framing – Repeat that protecting quality and fan trust is the highest priority, undermine the \u2018Large Corporation VS. Indie\u2019 framing<\/p>\n
b. Securing Control Points –<\/p>\n
* Lock down Steam\/console publishing rights and\u00a0access rights over code\/build pipeline through both legal and technical aspects.<\/p>\n
* For the earn-out freeze, keep room for\u00a0negotiations through provision stating \u2018immediate\u00a0removal if specific development results are achieved\u2019<\/p>\n
a. Systematic materials for legal defense – Prepare contract interpretation memorandums, log all communications, seek external consultation
b. Team retention – Operation of retention packages for key personnel and rapid backfill pipelines in anticipation of resignation\/departure scenarios
c. Two handed strategy – Create a structure that allows for both hardball (Legal+ Finance) and softball (Support\/Incentives) approaches so moderate factions within Unknown Worlds can push for compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nKim followed ChatGPT\u2019s advice rather than his lawyers\u2019 advice, according to the court records. The first step was posting a message<\/a> on Subanutica\u2019s website to get fans on his side. According to court documents, Kim said the goal of the message was to \u201csecure public support from fans and legal validation of our legitimacy.\u201d He then suggested that ChatGPT write it for him. It achieved the opposite of his intended goal. Fans found the message bizarre and worried about the future of the game. Those fears were compounded when Kim fired the game\u2019s original creators and entered into a legal battle with them.<\/p>\n
![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/87e07bd5bb3d003b0b135303a3e7f8b9.jpeg\")
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