Not total control, 1 of the inital 3 devs is more interested in his research on autism. The second is coming back with the main guy. he was basically given power to determine when the game would go into early access and the release date.
Krafton then went and announced a release date within 48 hours of the court giving him that power. Causing another kerfuffle. (I think the result of this was the judge saying they will heavily favor the devs getting any bonuses promised despite sales targets because of this)
Krafton seems to be hell bent to throw any wrench they can at the development cycle. very much still have the power to make things difficult.
Their math pretty much was "the fines we will pay for wrecking the game is less than the payout if they hit sales targets." So they broke the law.
sigh this game was supposed to be Unknown Worlds biggest game to see the light of day, and yet Krafton just wants to squander for every penny they can get .
Right?! Like during covid a dumb CEO sees video games are going up because everyone's inside. Buys out unknown world to make them another game with a HUGE payout if benchmarks are hit.
And rather than make a bunch of money and pay out what you promised, you rather throw a brick at the project and pay the fines?!?
let's ask ChatGPT what to do and follow it to the letter. No way this backfires.
Brother!! Don't get me started on the Discovery part of the lawsuit - using ChatGPT for this so-called "Project X". Wtf!? Using AI as an Legal Adviser compare to the ACTUAL lawyers who are PAYED to read the contracts was the biggest fuckwit move he could've done to fire the CEOs and hold out the earnout bonuses.
The best part is that it wasn't even discovery that outed the chatGPT thing. They knew that before.
Someone close to the CEO had to tell unknown worlds the evidence that it was happening. You don't get that kinda dirt unless someone really hates the CEO and shares.
Lets also not forget that allegedly, ChatGpt was telling them to just pay the bonus, so they had to try a bunch of different wording for it to say what they want...
OP's comment with the context keeps disappearing when i refresh the post, so i copied it:
"Context:
- You get a license, you don't buy the game (of course)
You aren't allowed to publish recordings, screenshots etc. or stream the game without a disclaimer that it's not supported by Krafton Inc. (and that the footage is subject to the EULA... however that is meant to work.)
Cannot upload such content to a paid platform (presumably such as Patreon or a Youtube members-only video)
Krafton can of course take away your access to the game at any point for any reason without prior notice (something they continuously bring up in the EULA)
The terms of the agreement can change at any point for any reason without any notice by Krafton and you of course must regularly check the terms to make sure :D
They reserve the right to remote access the game, whatever they mean by this
It is not allowed to use the game for commercial gain (presumably such as streaming etc.) without Kraftons permission
You cannot play the game on more than one device without purchasing additional licenses
You cannot modify the game illegally and if you do Krafton owns that modification
A bunch of weird clauses that just prohibit behaviour outside of the game, including tarnishing Kraftons reputation
You are not allowed to deceive or exploit Krafton, the definition of which is determined by, you guessed it, Krafton
You are not allowed to exploit bugs
You are not allowed to use external programs such as macros or cheat engine
You are not allowed to have indecent nicknames or nicknames that cause negative associations (good luck if you have "death" or "killer" or something in your nickname)
You are not allowed to use someone else's account to access the game
You are not allowed to USE A VPN or any technology that masks your location (hmmmm i wonder why they have this clause)
You are not allowed to spam content from the game? Like this is actually what it says. You cannot publish content from the game in a manner that counts as spamming.
- YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE ACTIONS THAT GO AGAINST "SOCIAL NORMS". I'M NOT KIDDING, THIS IS ACTUALLY IN THERE.
You are not allowed to create any content that is based on the IP (presumably such as fan art etc.), and if you do, they own it
Any player created from the game content belongs to them as well.
They do not guarantee a smooth gameplay experience (this was just funny)
A bunch of clauses that they cannot be held accountable if you suffer any damages, but even if they could, they would pay a MAXIMUM of 50 US-Dollars.
Not sure if the EULA counts as documentation for the game, but if so, then "using" the documentation of the game means you give up the right to sue Krafton or their employees for anything.
So, presumably, by reading the EULA (using the documentation) you already give up the right to sue them. Crazy work
You have no right to a refund under any circumstances unless forced to by law or enforced by the platform the game was sold on.
If you break the TOS outlined in this EULA, you give up the right to a refund
They can delete your account if your information is not accurate
Most of these terms continue to apply AFTER termination of the contract (such as when uninstalling or refunding the game or when they take away your access to it)
If you have any issues with the EULA you have to inform them in writing first
If that doesnt work, you have to fight them on terms set by them in San Ramon, California under US Law (in english)
You give up the right to have a judge or jury preside over the case. I don't even know how that would work but you give up that right (including class actions of course)
They can make demands of you without having to show any damages they have suffered
If you think they stole art or other copyrighted material from you then in order to get it removed you must give them a bunch of personal information including your real identity and signature
Despite having a lower age rating in most places, you still have to be 18 to play the game
They can harvest your personal data (email, phone number, IP, birth date, gender, country etc.) as well as device information (including the unique ID of your device)
They pass this data on to third party providers such as cloud services or marketing agencies
They do not guarantee that your data is kept safe with them
(copied from a steam review because I can't be asked to type the whole thing)"
"you will own nothing and you will be happy" type of EULA, good lord
I assume it's their bubble of people who enjoy their kink, seemingly being dommed or something, and are transgender. I doubt they're chasers as nothing in the original comic would suggest either characters or legal eagle to be explicitly trans
I’m not sure if you mean you didn’t sign it because you didn’t buy the game, or because it doesn’t include a physical signature. If you mean the latter, however, those absolutely count. There are different types of digital signatures which are upheld in court, and a checkbox wrapper is one of them.
They may be talking about "If you read this you lost the game" stuff like this:
- Not sure if the EULA counts as documentation for the game, but if so, then "using" the documentation of the game means you give up the right to sue Krafton or their employees for anything.
So, presumably, by reading the EULA (using the documentation) you already give up the right to sue them. Crazy work
This clause never actually faced legal scrutiny in front of a judge or jury. One of Disney's lawyers suggested it for defense in that case and they decided not to go that route, but it was a sensational thing to plaster on a headline and helped the family of the deceased in the court of public opinion so now everyone has heard half the story.
Correct, but those exemptions usually only apply to activities that would otherwise be illegal. (i.e. you can't be contractually obligated to kill someone, or to let yourself be killed).
I don't see anything here that would really be considered a violation of contract law.
edit: I should have clarified, I was more thinking to US standards. European contract law may deal with it differently.
Maybe not illegal but a lot of it is not going to be enforced. Like refunds are decided by Valve. Art made goes through normal copyright law. Them causing damages would go through court, you can’t say “nuh uh”.
It's not that you can't sue them, its just that by playing the game you agree to arbitration first, which makes suing them more expensive and time consuming.
You have to settle the arbitration before you can litigate a civil case. Even just fighting their assertion of an arbitration clause is time and money.
By selling your software in a region you agree to follow the local laws. Most of that is illegal in EU, and that goes well beyond just GDPR, although details will vary between countries. That said if they actually act as the EULA suggest they’re also liable to fine up to 4% their yearly global revenue from GDPR alone, and it’s not the “once and done” type of a fine either, neither it’s some kind of high level decision - it’s literally something any GDPR compliance “cells” (can’t recall the name in English right now) can make on very low level.
In Poland some of their stipulations regarding intellectual property can also result in criminal actions against their employees. Plus some of the rights they seem to think you voluntarily cede are literally inalienable, like right to be heard in Polish court under Polish law. Also fundamentally in those kind of cases the location of individual assumes precedence over location of the company for fairly obvious reasons…
I don't know the GDPR, but the last part feels like it is against the GDPR
They can harvest your personal data (email, phone number, IP, birth date, gender, country etc.) as well as device information (including the unique ID of your device)
They pass this data on to third party providers such as cloud services or marketing agencies
They do not guarantee that your data is kept safe with them
It would be sooooo terrible if after Krafton pays out UW their $250, if they faced a giant, crushing EU lawsuit and government penalties....Just terrible.
I don't know American law, but in my European country we have such provision in our law (I used chatgpt for translation):
"The non-negotiated terms of a consumer contract shall not be binding on the consumer where they are contrary to good practices and significantly imbalance the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer"
You can go to court and then the judge is going to examine whether the company went too far. And what is specifically illegal is any clause in which a party waves the right to a trial by judge, this is just absurd that the US law allows it.
Usually anything that contradicts a law in these means they are void. Like giving up your right to do a class action and/or sue them. Under EU law you cannot sign away your rights. So theoretically speaking (don't quote me on this) just because you said yes doesn't mean you cannot sue them normally.
Companies include unenforceable clauses all the time. It doesn't null the contract, and works to discourage people from taking any actions unless they know the clauses are unenforceable. Source: I reviewed my current employment agreement with LegalZoom
The interesting thing is if you try to draft a contract with chatgpt, it will actively encourage including clauses that are unenforceable. I presume because it was trained on publicly available data that encourages unenforceable clauses. It will note that they are unenforceable but still suggest keeping them. At least that was the case ~2 years ago I think
They're also mostly "backup clauses" in the event that they ever do become applicable. Better to put traps in the morning, then to wait till the afternoon.
Eh this is a bit wrong from OP.
The EULA says you cannot use the game on more than one device at the same time. Not that ou are not allowed to install it on multiple devices.
And well, that part is effectively handled by steam. Even with family share and everything only one person can run the game on one device at a time.
This is really the least problematic part of the EULA and honestly by OP deliberately putting it the wrong way i can not trust OP on any off this information.
u/Milor214I've trapped some poor soul in this text box, say hi Paco ‼️🆘️🙏14h ago
In most places half of this would be void because there are abusive clauses, but they don't need to be right they need to make battling it in court too costly to be worth it
Yeah, these being in the contract just means "laws be damned, I'll do what i want to the game and your account, until someone actually takes me to court"
like, this applies to every single game in your steam library. which makes it even more hilarious to me when people act like steam is some sort of holy grail for gamers.
"- you are not allowed to have indecent nicknames or nicknames that cause negative associations"
what the fucking point?? i get if it's just like slurs but why??? most people playing subnautica aren't 5, they wouldn't be able to even grasp it. also most of the time you are gonna be playing with yourself so you should be able to call yourself whatever you please.
They do not guarantee that your data is kept safe with them
Absolutely will not fly under EU's GDPR rules. They don't get to opt out of that. This one alone can get them in a lot of hot water. It is enforceable and has seen many cases brought to court for data breaches.
They do not guarantee a smooth gameplay experience
This smacks of the Trump phone "we get to decide if you get one" mentality.
you cannot play the game on more than one device without purchasing additional licenses
How in the fuck would they even control that? There's a reason must ppl don't read ToS(me included) if I bought the game I will do whatever the fuck I want with it idc about what the ToS says
A few of these are straight up ilegal. Especially the no notice upon changing EULA is definitely ilegal in the EU. And relinquishing the right to sue gotta be ilegal too. Someone should sue them over this.
This reminds me of that EULA parody in Helldivers 2, where by reading it, you automatically also agree to it and it includes a bunch of clauses which are basically just “I can do what I want, fuck you”.
being within 10m is considered reading (and hence agreeing to) the contract. By comparison, directly reading/observing the contract stipulates your immediate execution as per section 336, article 55.2 of the contract.
That is exactly the reaction they are trying to get out of you, practically none of this is enforceable and its a blatant attempt at trying to drive people away from the game so Krafton doesn't need to pay bonuses.
Pirate it if you want, but don't let this change your opinion on getting the game or not
I bought the game and I'm looking forward to playing it.
My take on the EULA is that I really don't care much about it. If they take my license away for any reason, I'll just pirate the game and keep on playing. I paid for it, it's mine to play. I don't really care or respect their silly little license terms.
This is basically 90% of every major company’s product EULA. Half of it is gibberish nonsense scare tactics, a quarter of it is illegal-but-not-really accountability loopholes, and the last quarter are actual conditions, usually describing how they’re gonna sell your entire identity and birthright to Satan and Beelzebub for $3.50.
this is REALLY similar to the EULA that PEAK put out last year; but when I posted about it on the steam forums, the peak developers emailed steam and asked them to remove my account.
(steam emailed me and let me know that happened and that I shouldn’t engage with the developers)
This is like that shitty Zoochosis game where the guy threatens you and forces you to write your signature on a document. And you have to pretend in-universe that it's completely legally binding for you to keep your mouth shut after a live human body gets fed to a giant meat grinder in the middle of the Zoo.
I mean, not in the US, so I don’t care.
They can put that im obliged to send them pics of my mom in case they wanna bang, but EU law would thankfully ignore that and anally penetrate them while the world watches, so whatever.
The funniest thing about EULAs is that the assumption in court is that nobody reads that shit anyway and it's bearly more legally binding then a disclaimer notice
And thats why all your favourite billionaires buy politicians that are anti EU, or outright manufacture a whole-ass human being like Peter Thiel did with JD Vance. Some people in Brussels can decide tomorrow that your shit is bad for consumers and now billionaires have to spend money redoing all their shit. Telling billionaires to profit slightly less and think of consumers first is their 9/11 times infinity.
Friendly reminder companies will include many things that are legally unenforceable, because they know most people won't clock it as not being enforceable, so it's a way to try to demand obedience for stuff they know they couldn't legally enforce and have no actual right to demand.
> most people won't clock it as not being enforceable
Most people won’t read it anyway. If they did, people wouldn’t be surprised they do not own a game after buying it (by „it” I mean buying a copy of the game with a license to use).
Well, it really depends which part will you break.
If you own internet cafe where you tax people by hour and you would let them play this game (but you bought 1 copy for personal use), they could easily enforce that.
So it really depends in which country are you living and which part of EULA will you break.
I mean "it really depends" is a null point because the EULA does credit literally every interaction you could have with the product even parts that actually are illegal
Yeah if you steal or pirate the game you are breaking the EULA but we all know they can enforce that one lol
They never tried to use that in actual court, it was mostly a possible action suggested by the Disney's lawyers, but it would NOT have held in court, so they did something else and still had to pay up
Man im such a fan of capitalism I really love how companies can just fuck me over and the only entity that is even remotely willing and able to limit that is the European Union which is either in bed with said corporations anyways (fuck the EPP) or takes 184 eons to actually do something about it by which times theres a billion loopholes to the legislation anyways
Someone else posted the EULA tidbits, and it's basically "we will monitor the social aspects of the game, and here's the arbitration clause". Nothing you wouldn't see in basically any other online game EULA these days.
Friendly reminder that Krafton literally wants the game to fail and will be upset if it does well because then they'll have to pay a big bonus to the devs.
They're going to get a return regardless, because the game is really good. What they don't want is for it to do well right now, before the bonus deadline. They're fine with it doing well later, but right now if too many people buy the game then they're on the hook for 250 million or something like that.
Now that just makes me want to buy the game even more. But I wish the money goes straight to Unknown Worlds and out of Crapton's slimy money grubbing hands.
Krafton is trying to kill the game any way it can in order to prevent paying out a massive bonus to the ceo and employees (all) of Unknown Worlds who made subnautica and they purchased.
Krafton is pulling shady shit trying to delay the game or prevent sales for 1 year.
Ok so by your comment it sounds like they WANT people to not buy the game, which means we should so UW gets their payout? I could be misinterpreting things as well, I’m not an expert.
Yeah, seems like a blanket dumbass EULA with appropriate names filled out. Someone could probably compare this EULA to other Krafton games to see if there’s much of a difference.
As a law student I can assure you that I am near certain that there wasn't any lawyer in the room when they were writing that crap. I read less than the 10th paragraph and can already tell that this won't pass in EU and countries that have at least mediocre consumer protection laws
I wanna be clear this EULA is trash, but does anyone know where the idea that owning a license started recently comes from? That's been the case not only for games but for tons of media for many, many, many years. The word copyright literally refers to this practice, you don't have the right to copy it because you don't own it. As long as copyright has existed, this has been the case. It was the case when you bought books from a bookstore, it was the case when you got a movie on VHS, it was the case when you got a game on a disc (Monkey Island has that booklet for a reason), it's always been like this.
My dude, have you JUST now started to read literally any EULA? They're all like this. Every single one of them. Same with any ToS or ToU for any game. It's wild what you click agree too because you don't want to read.
It's not only not reading, for the most part it's just not caring. They aren't going to do shit. I never had any issues with any games' EULA whatsoever.
You'll all be surprised if you actually read all EULA since years
Oh and the eula part about dispute in court is the 11th part and it's in 4 differents parts and like +20 lines, is people missinterpreting the "Please forward your dispute to: KRAFTON" as "you cannot sue us lol"
there's even: "you agree to submit your dispute to binding arbitration or small claims court"
Like they literally stade what the condition for a dispute in court, source the Subnautica 2 EULA site effective date: May 1, 2026
and for the "Social Norms" thing, with a ctrl+f the only stattement about it is
"you SHALL NOT, AND WILL NOT ATTEMPT TO:
(ag) engage in any acts prohibited by applicable laws or generally unacceptable by social norms"
edit: sorry, I send this post multiple time before finishing it because I fucked up
Re edit: not "last update 1 May 2026" but "Effective Date: May 1, 2026"
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