This photo, provided by Unknown Worlds, shows the game development studio’s promotional image for Subnautica 2. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Krafton Inc. has claimed that former leadership of its U.S. subsidiary Unknown Worlds was negligent in developing the survival game Subnautica 2, leading to delays that triggered a legal dispute in the United States, company officials said Thursday.
Krafton Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kim Chang-han filed such a claim Tuesday (U.S. time) during the second day of a trial at Delaware Court of Chancery, according to the officials.
“We found out that they were no longer working on the development,” he was quoted as saying, referring to Unknown Worlds co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, key development members for Subnautica 2.
“We asked them to return to their post as a game developer and technical developer, design director and technical director. But they rejected that. So we had no choice but to get the operational control back from them,” he added, according to Krafton.
Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds in October 2021 in a deal aimed at diversifying its portfolio beyond its flagship shooter PUBG: Battlegrounds.
At the time, the company highlighted the studio’s strong intellectual properties and reputation for globally appealing, community-driven gameplay experiences, such as the hit underwater survival game Subnautica.
Krafton hq tower (Image courtesy of Krafton)
Earlier this year, however, the Korean game company removed the co-founders and CEO Ted Gill from their positions, citing what it described as a lack of leadership and delays in the development of Subnautica 2.
In response, the former Unknown Worlds leaders filed a lawsuit against Krafton, alleging a breach of contract. They claimed Krafton sought to avoid issuing a US$250 million bonus payment, or earnout, by intentionally delaying the game through “pressure tactics.”
Kim argued that the dismissals were unrelated to the financial incentives.
“It is unrelated to earnout, because earnout is something that was included in the agreement, and that doesn’t change now,” he said. “And it’s not going to change going forward if it is something that is reasonable to make the payment for.”
Instead, he claimed the former executives had sought an additional $1 billion in emotional distress and damages, citing Cleveland’s personal notes.
However, during the trial, the U.S. plaintiffs asserted that Krafton disrupted their development work, accusing the company of creating a secret task force to that end, in an attempt to avoid paying the bonus tied to an early access launch, according to U.S. news outlet Game Developer.
(Yonhap)
