Unknown Worlds co-founder Charlie Cleveland went to lunch with Krafton CEO, Kim Chang-han, who allegedly said having to pay an earnout would be "embarrassing".
The article also states that the founders had endeavored to distribute more of their share to the other employees, and this was a sticking point in Krafton’s attempt to walk back the original deal:
But the trio declined, claiming the amount was not “anything close to what they deserved, and did not allow them to share the earnout with the full team.””
Given this I don’t think we can fairly prejudge the trio — if they’d received the bonus and then reneged on their promise or made it a negligible amount then it’d be fair to judge them harshly.
The article also states that the founders had endeavored to distribute more of their share to the other employees, and this was a sticking point in Krafton’s attempt to walk back the original deal:
But the trio declined, claiming the amount was not “anything close to what they deserved, and did not allow them to share the earnout with the full team.””
Given this I don’t think we can fairly prejudge the trio — if they’d received the bonus and then reneged on their promise or made it a negligible amount then it’d be fair to judge them harshly.