Krafton Alleges Unknown Worlds Co-Founders’ Testimonies Are Key Evidence in Legal Battle

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I’ve been following the legal stuff between Krafton and the original creators of Subnautica – Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland, and Max McGuire – and some interesting details are coming out now. Apparently, Krafton is using statements the three of them made during a trial last November in Delaware as evidence in the case, according to WCCFTech.

Krafton states that witness statements confirm they never intended to remove the co-founders of Unknown Worlds from their roles to avoid paying them their earned bonuses. The company says the testimonies clearly demonstrate there was no prior plan to oust the leadership team to sidestep the bonus obligation.

The publisher also claims that statements from McGuire, Cleveland, and Gill prove they intentionally misled people about why they stopped working on Subnautica 2 and neglected their responsibilities. They suggest this was done to pressure Krafton into paying them a large sum of money without justification.

As a big fan of both Krafton and Unknown Worlds, this whole situation is really frustrating to follow. From what I understand, Krafton is building a case showing that when Unknown Worlds was being acquired, Cleveland and McGuire weren’t being upfront about how much they were actually involved in the day-to-day work. Apparently, Krafton didn’t find out about this until May 20th, which is pretty shocking!

So, I was reading some stuff online, and it turns out a couple of the big names at Unknown Worlds, the team behind Subnautica, were talking about stepping back a bit. Apparently, Cleveland messaged someone back in January saying he’d actually stopped working about four months prior and was basically semi-retired. And McGuire, the former technical director, sent an email around the same time – January 10th, to be exact – saying he’d been doing small tasks when needed, but he stopped thinking of himself as a ‘technical director’ years ago because his role had changed. It sounds like they were both quietly shifting away from their main jobs.

On April 29, 2024, McGuire announced he’d discussed his departure with Cleveland and Gill. Cleveland replied that he also planned to leave the company, stating he was “pretty sure” he would.

Krafton also presented a statement from Anthony Gallegos, the lead designer of Subnautica 2. Gallegos explained that he struggled to get feedback from McGuire on the game’s development. He stated that McGuire wouldn’t even review code for Subnautica 2‘s water effects, despite continuing to profit from a sale that happened four years prior without contributing any work.

During the trial, Cleveland confessed he hadn’t told Krafton’s CEO, Changham Kim, that he wasn’t working at Unknown Worlds. Krafton’s lawyers challenged him, pointing out he could have earned millions more if the project succeeded and questioned, “You couldn’t send a quick email, even though you stood to gain so much? Is that what you’re saying?” Cleveland acknowledged it wasn’t a good excuse, admitting, “That’s not a great reason, I admit.”

Evidence suggests Gill was further involved, based on a transcript of a phone call from June 10, 2025. In that conversation, Gill told Krafton they should fulfill their promised earnout payment if they intended to postpone the release of Subnautica 2.

According to the statement, Gill urged Krafton to simply pay the earnout if they wanted to postpone the game’s release. He proposed they could finalize an agreement as soon as tomorrow, allowing Krafton to pay the amount over two years instead of immediately. His main point was, ‘Just pay it,’ to gain the needed flexibility.

Krafton has presented these statements as part of its legal defense, aiming to demonstrate that the three co-founders were primarily focused on receiving their earned payout, and not on the well-being of the game studio or the success of its future games.

Only last month, the three individuals claimed that Kim had attempted to use ChatGPT to explore options for Krafton to avoid fulfilling its payment obligations to Gill, Cleveland, and McGuire.

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2025-12-10 15:42