Krafton CEO's ChatGPT legal strategy backfires as Subnautica 2 breaks records

Valve veteran Chet Faliszek has called out Krafton CEO Changhan Kim's reliance on ChatGPT for legal strategy during the Subnautica 2 contract dispute, and now that the title has done gangbusters in terms of players, many, including Faliszek, are wondering if Krafton will have to pay out that $250 million bonus.

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As the sequel breaks records on Steam with over 467,582 concurrent players, the burning question remains: will Kim finally have to pay the $250 million bonus he tried to avoid? Faliszek, now with Stray Bombay, says the situation is a real-time case study in what happens when a major studio tries to circumvent contractual obligations.

"Half a million people are playing it right now," he said in a YouTube video, noting that the game's success has made the legal fallout unavoidable.

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For those who don't know, the Krafton CEO was found to be using ChatGPT regularly for legal guidance during the legal dispute between Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds and its parent company, Krafton. The ChatGPT-fueled legal maneuvering included an attempted corporate takeover of Unknown Worlds to avoid paying the earnout. This was ultimately thrown out by a Delaware judge.

"Internal projections showed the new title generating significant revenue that would easily trigger the earnout. Fearing he had agreed to a 'pushover' contract, Krafton's CEO consulted an artificial intelligence chatbot to contrive a corporate 'takeover' strategy," said judge Lori W. Will

Judge Lori W. Will noted that Krafton's internal projections showed Subnautica 2 would easily hit the sales targets required for the bonus. Rather than accept the financial commitment, Kim turned to AI for a way out, and evidently lost the case.

As Subnautica 2 continues to thrive, the case stands as a cautionary tale for executives tempted to outsource critical legal decisions to AI. For now, the only thing trending higher than the game's player count is the likelihood that Kim will be writing that $250 million check.