Three of game studio That's No Moon's co-founders are suing another co-founder for allegedly hijacking the company’s website domain name—taking the website offline and disabling employee access to email accounts, according to a new lawsuit.
Tina Kowalewski, Taylor Kurosaki, and Nick Kononelos filed a complaint against co-founder and former CEO Michael Mumbauer on Tuesday in a California court. That's No Moon, which was founded in 2020 by veterans of Infinity Ward, Naughty Dog, and other AAA studios, said in its complaint that Mumbauer is looking to "cripple" the studio after being fired in 2022. "[Mumbauer]—resentful about his termination—has waged a harassment campaign that has included threatening a TNM executive and their family and sporadic but persistent efforts to cripple TNM's business."
Mumbauer, according to the complaint, purchased the domain name, and several others, when the studio was founded; it said both parties agreed these would be controlled by the studio. Mumbauer allegedly still has access to the domains, and That's No Moon said he took control over the website on Jan. 6, disabled the studio's access, and turned off employees’ ability to email external addresses. The team was locked out for two days as a four-person IT team worked to get the services back online.
On the public-facing side, the website briefly redirected to the Travel Switzerland page, according to the complaint. That's No Moon's lawyers said the co-founders sent Mumbauer a letter on Jan. 7 demanding he "relinquish his unauthorized access." That's when, according to the compliant, the website started redirecting to a GoDaddy Auction site, where the domain was priced at $6,666,666; That's No Moon remarked in the complaint: "A number that [Mumbauer] may well have selected for its Satanic connotation."
As of Wednesday, Aftermath was able to access a public-facing That's No Moon website using both the original domain and the new one. That's No Moon did not respond to Aftermath's request for comment by time of publishing.
"Business partners, gamers, and employee candidates were left wondering whether TNM had simply shut down, or whether the company had fired executives who were suddenly unreachable by e-mail," lawyers wrote in the complaint. That's No Moon also said in the complaint that the email lockout interrupted communications with HR providers, "resulting in missed payroll reminders and invoices."
That's No Moon immediately created a new domain (ThatsNoMoon.co) and moved its website over, per the complaint. This whole debacle, allegedly, cost the company more than $1 million in January—and, as of the complaint's filing on Tuesday, Mumbauer allegedly still has control over the domain. That's why the studio is asking to get back access and for damages related to the costs of the new domains and other harm. Per the complaint, the original domain names cost around $2,836, which That's No Moon said it reimbursed Mumbauer for.
That's No Moon fired Mumbauer in 2022, it said, because he "leaked confidential and sensitive information to the media and to competitors." After leaving That's No Moon, Mumbauer allegedly denied requests from the That's No Moon IT team to hand over the domain access. The company tried to get access from an arbitrator in 2023, but was denied because of a lack of trademark registrations.
Lawyers said Mumbauer had been harassing the company and its executives for years, and that they and their families "fear for their safety." From the complaint:
Following his termination from TNM in 2022, Defendant posted disruptive comments on social media alluding to the company and team members. He threatened litigation against TNM over fabricated claims about his termination. Even more significantly, he threatened a member of the TNM leadership team whom he blames for his departure through text messages. In one instance, Defendant texted the executive, “This is not going to end well for you. Trust me.” Defendant has continued to send threatening texts as late as last year—over three years after his termination. On information and belief, Defendant used an unknown phone number to contact the executive on April 24, 2025, texting, “Hope your family is well. They deserve all the stability you can provide Brute,” followed by a winking emoji. Moreover, Defendant revealed TNM’s confidential business information on multiple different occasions, violating the NDA he had signed.
The charges listed as part of this lawsuit are trademark infringement, cybersquatting, computer fraud, conversion, trespass to chattels, and breach of contract. That's No Moon also asked a judge for a temporary restraining order to prevent Mumbauer from continued access to the domains.
Mumbauer has not responded to Aftermath's request for comment. Mumbauer said, in an email to That's No Moon attorney Amit Rana published as part of the lawsuit, that he intends to file "a wrongful termination countersuit and will be seeking extensive damages."
That's No Moon was founded in 2020 and formally announced in 2021. It billed itself as a triple A studio from veteran developers from studios like Infinity Ward, Bungie, Sony Santa Monica, and Naughty Dog developers. That's No Moon hasn't yet announced its first game, but has said the game is led by creative director Taylor Kurosaki and game director Jacob Minkoff. South Korean publisher Smilegate invested $100 million into the company, That's No Moon announced in 2021. The company said, in its announcement in 2021, that it hoped to reach 100 employees by 2022. It’s listed as having 51 to 200 employees on LinkedIn and, though it’s been publicly quiet for several years, appears to be hiring.
Update: This story has been updated to include additional details.
