Court Orders Krafton to Rehire Subnautica Studio's CEO It Fired

Last year, Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the studio behind Subnautica, was shaken when its parent, Krafton, ousted its bosses, Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire. The trio sued the publisher, and the trial led to a discovery that Krafton's CEO, Changham Kim, reportedly consulted ChatGPT to find a way to avoid paying the developers their earnout bonuses and avoid the "professional embarrassment" that would make him a "pushover".

The bonus was meant to be paid if UW reached a certain revenue target, which could not be achieved, as Krafton delayed Subnautica 2.

Now, the Delaware judge Lori W. Will has ruled that Krafton must reinstate Ted Gill as CEO of Unknown Worlds, according to Bloomberg (via MSN). 

The judge said that Krafton had violated the terms of its contract with Unknown Worlds when it fired the executives. "To remedy these breaches, Gill is reinstated as CEO of Unknown Worlds with full operational authority over the studio."

A Krafton spokesperson shared that "we respectfully disagree with today's ruling" and that "we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward." I hope ChatGPT won't be involved in decision-making this time.

Subnautica 2 is scheduled for 2026, but with this legal battle raging, I wouldn't be surprised to see it delayed once again.

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