We’re talking about a significant amount of money that Krafton reportedly just paid out to Unknown Worlds. The ChatGPT lawsuit backfired!

The Subnautica 2 development team will receive its $250 million bonus from Krafton, its parent company. This is the same bonus that Krafton’s CEO unsuccessfully tried to avoid paying using ChatGPT. That attempt quickly escalated into a very public and chaotic legal battle over the past year. According to the Korean Economic Daily, Krafton agreed to pay the bonus after Subnautica 2 became an instant hit, estimated to have sold 4 million copies and generated $100 million in revenue.

The scandal between Krafton and the Unknown Worlds founders began last July when Krafton fired the company’s original founders and creators of the Subnautica franchise, Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire. Krafton claimed the decision was made to ensure a game worthy of the series’ fans was released, though just two days after the firings, Cleveland’s statement made it clear there was more to the story.

In the days following Cleveland’s statement, Bloomberg revealed the central element of the story: the $250 million bonus that Unknown Worlds would receive if the Subnautica series reached a certain sales milestone within a specified time frame. Krafton knew that if Subnautica 2 had been released last year as originally planned, Unknown Worlds would have easily surpassed the milestone and Krafton would have had to pay the bonus. Shortly thereafter, Krafton confirmed the delay of Subnautica 2 but denied that the decision to postpone the release had anything to do with the bonus. Krafton then claimed that the founders were responsible for the delay and had abandoned their responsibilities regarding Subnautica 2‘s development in an attempt to justify their dismissal. On the same day, Cleveland and his co-founders filed a lawsuit against Krafton.

A little over a week after the co-founders were dismissed, a legal battle began. This was followed by nearly a year of public mudslinging from both sides, including accusations and further lawsuits. In February, a ruling sided with the co-founders. It ordered their reinstatement and confirmed that Krafton’s CEO had used ChatGPT to find a way to avoid paying them. The May release date was confirmed the day after the judge ordered Ted Gill’s reinstatement as CEO of Unknown Worlds. The May 14 release date was confirmed as well.

With more than 5 million people having added it to their wish lists before its release, this outcome was inevitable.

Source: WCCFTech, Korean Economic Daily