[STEAM] Krafton ordered to reinstate fired Subnautica 2 CEO after judge accuses publisher of using ChatGPT to help abandon bonus payments

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The messy story of Subnautica 2's development and delay got a whole lot messier today, deepening the plot about the highly anticipated sequel's delayed early access launch.

Last summer, publisher Krafton placed the blame for Subnautica 2's delay on three former executives at developer Unknown Worlds, amid reports that the game was actually pushed to avoid paying them $250 million in bonuses, according to

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Image via Krafton The latest development, picked up by

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, is that a judge in Delaware has ruled that Krafton must reinstate former Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, who was fired by the company last year, along with former founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire.

To make matters even juicier, the judge also made an accusation that Krafton's own CEO "turned to artificial intelligence to help him brainstorm ways to avoid paying the earnout," remarking that "ChatGPT likewise advised that it would be ‘difficult to cancel the earnout.'"

That strategy, apparently, was to place blame on Gill and other executives who Krafton said "abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to them" alongside Subnautica 2's development. Now, the recent court ruling claims that "Krafton went searching for a pretext" to avoid a "nine-figure liability."

“We are deeply disappointed by the former leadership’s conduct, and above all, we feel a profound sense of betrayal by their failure to honor the trust placed in them by our fans,” Krafton

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last July.

Basically, Subnautica 2 devs said the game is ready for early access, but the game was delayed because Krafton said and felt otherwise, apparently. But now all of this is being called into question, and it may be due to the publisher attempting to avoid its payment responsibilities.

Subnautica 2 is currently the most wishlisted game on Steam, ahead of titles like Deadlock, Light No Fire, Crimson Desert, and Forza Horizon 6. It's unclear what this latest wrinkle means for the undersea exploration game, but the sloppiness behind the scenes just keeps getting sloppier. Hopefully, with Gill back at the reins, the game could be closer to release than ever.

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