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Krafton Pays Bonuses, Restores CEO After ChatGPT-Guided Dodge Claim

7/2/2026

Summary

Krafton Dodges Payouts

U.S. and Krafton agreed to pay three bonuses to all Unknown Worlds employees following a settlement.
A Delaware judge ordered Krafton to reinstate CEO Ted Gill and to extend the bonus earn-out period.
Ted Gill and co-founder Charlie Cleveland sued, alleging 2025 firings and Subnautica 2 delay to 2026 were intended to avoid payouts.
Krafton CEO Changhan Kim consulted ChatGPT when planning to dodge the payouts, a move experts called bad.

Summary

Krafton Evades Payouts

Unknown Worlds Entertainment will keep steering Subnautica 2’s development while Krafton pledged ongoing support for the game’s success.
Subnautica 2 entered early access in May 2026.
The studios will begin a joint search for an external CEO after Gill’s departure.
Staff bonuses tied to the game’s performance will be paid in three yearly installments, though the settlement disclosed no financial terms.
Krafton declined to comment when contacted by The Verge for additional details.

Summary

Krafton Renegotiates Earnout

CEO Changhan Kim consulted ChatGPT, which warned $250 million earnout would be difficult to cancel, prompting Project X.
Project X must renegotiate the earnout or take over Unknown Worlds.
Lawyers say firing leaders will not void the earnout and may spark a lawsuit.
Subnautica 2 sold 4 million copies after its May 14 launch and hit 467,000 concurrent Steam players.
Updates will add a vehicle and a Collector Leviathan region, though fish cannot be killed.

History

Historical Context

In 1998, US antitrust case against Microsoft led regulators to examine corporate practices. Decades later, Krafton's 2025-26 dispute with Unknown Worlds over earn-out clauses and AI-assisted counsel echoes that scrutiny, while recent AI-interface deals like Facebook’s 2019 acquisition of CTRL-labs show how technology fuels similar legal battles.

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Krafton Dodges Payouts

U.S. and Krafton agreed to pay three bonuses to all Unknown Worlds employees following a settlement.
A Delaware judge ordered Krafton to reinstate CEO Ted Gill and to extend the bonus earn-out period.
Ted Gill and co-founder Charlie Cleveland sued, alleging 2025 firings and Subnautica 2 delay to 2026 were intended to avoid payouts.
Krafton CEO Changhan Kim consulted ChatGPT when planning to dodge the payouts, a move experts called bad.

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