The ousted founders of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds declare Krafton established a secret activity pressure referred to as ‘Venture X’ in an effort to delay Subnautica 2 and keep away from paying a multi-million greenback earnout tied to its profitable early entry launch.
In a pre-trial transient filed by Fortis Advisors on behalf of the Unknown World co-founders Charlie Cleveland, Max McGuire, and Ted Gill (the plaintiffs), Krafton CEO Changhan ‘CH’ Kim is accused of utilizing any means essential to delay the title in an effort to keep away from embarrassment and doubtlessly even save his job.
The submitting is the most recent growth in an very public authorized spat between the previous Unknown Worlds government crew and the studio’s mum or dad firm, Krafton.
The previous declare they had been unjustly fired after Krafton selected to delay Subnautica 2 to keep away from paying that aforementioned earnout, regardless of the undertaking purportedly being in good condition forward of its proposed 2025 early entry launch.
Krafton, nonetheless, claims the three co-founders downed instruments after it acquired Unknown Worlds and that Subnautica 2 wants extra time within the oven. It additionally mentioned all three execs stole info that amounted to a “blueprint” for Subnautica on their method out of the door.
“Krafton fired the Founders and delayed the launch of Subnautica 2 to keep away from paying the earnout. That’s what Plaintiff alleged in its grievance, and that’s what the proof will present at trial,” reads the pre-trial briefing, laying out the plaintiffs’ case. “After Krafton’s finance division, in Might 2025, forecast a base-case earnout of $191 million, Krafton wanted a approach to ‘cancel the earn-out.'”
Krafton is accused of initially making an attempt to influence Unknown Worlds’ founders to delay Subnautica 2 primarily based on “now-abandoned claims” the title was not prepared for launch. When that failed, Krafton purportedly established a secret activity pressure dubbed ‘Venture X’ with a singular mandate: both make a take care of the founders over the earnout or execute a takeover of Unknown Worlds.
Slack messages between Krafton CEO CH Kim and Unknown Worlds newly-appointed CFO Richard Yoon included within the pre-brief (and posted under) seem to point out the pair discussing the prospect of a takeover.
As well as, the plaintiffs declare Kim had develop into annoyed with a contract that entitled Unknown Worlds’ government and growth crew to main earnouts. They state Kim understood it had develop into a “dangerous deal” for Krafton that would diminish the corporate’s “company worth” and outcome within the CEO being considered as a “pushover.”
“Kim expressed his frustrations to Charlie Cleveland at a Might 20 assembly in Los Angeles. He advised Cleveland that paying the ‘earnout’ might trigger ‘the worth of the studio’ to ‘drop considerably,’ and that ‘he, because the particular person accountable for the funding, must take duty,'” reads the pre-brief.
“Kim later advised a colleague that if Cleveland had ‘appeared sorry’ when Kim advised him this, he ‘wouldn’t have th[e] thought’ to remove the earnout.”
The pre-brief notes that Kim’s contract as Krafton CEO is up for renewal in 2026 and claims the scenario had develop into “private” for him. It additionally states that Kim requested ChatGPT for recommendation on how you can keep away from paying the earnout. The generative AI instrument reportedly advised Kim it will be “troublesome to cancel” the payout.
“Not solely was Krafton’s backside line at stake; the earnout was a menace to Kim’s job. Krafton thus took motion to neutralize the specter of paying the earnout,” continues the pre-brief.
After that realisation sunk in, Krafton and Kim are accused of terminating the plaintiffs by falsely accusing them of making an attempt to proceed with the “untimely” launch of Subnautica 2. The pre-brief, nonetheless, states that in the course of the discovery section of the authorized battle, Krafton CFO and company designee Yoon “couldn’t title a single Krafton worker who truly thought the sport was unready for launch.”
The plaintiffs additionally word that, following an inside milestone overview on Might 27, 2025, Krafton inventive director Hyeon-gyu Park agreed that Subnautica 2 ought to launch into early entry in August 2025 as beforehand deliberate. It is claimed he advised Kim that firing Gill would “add two years to the size of the event interval.”
In the end, the authorized crew representing Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill asserts that Krafton has failed to supply a transparent and constant justification as to why the trio had been fired and is demanding all three be restored to their positions at Unknown Worlds.
The lawsuit introduced by Fortis Advisors on behalf of the previous Unknown Worlds executives is anticipated to be tried beginning on November 17, 2025, on the Delaware Chancery Court docket. We’ve made the entire pre-brief out there to view on Scribd.
