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Subnautica 2

Subnautica 2 is an underwater survival game made and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment, in Early Access since May 14, 2026 on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox, for one player or up to four in online co-op.[^1][^7][^12][^13] It sold 2 million copies within 12 hours and 5 million within 22 days.[^16][^17] Its launch followed a court fight between Krafton, which owns the studio, and the studio's former leaders, which ended in a settlement on Jul 1, 2026.[^19][^20] As of Nov 7, 2026 its next large update, Early Access 2, is due in December 2026, and the full release has no date.[^12][^1]

The Early Access gameplay trailer Unknown Worlds' Early Access gameplay trailer of May 9, 2026: the colonists' guide tells the newly printed Pioneer to learn to survive, then the trailer dives through reefs, caves and a Biomod lab while a second voice warns against swimming to the tree.

Developer and publisher
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, owned by Krafton since 2021[1][23]
Genre
Underwater survival, single-player or online co-op for up to 4[1][13]
Engine
Unreal Engine 5[14]
Platforms
Windows (Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox app), Xbox Series X|S; in PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate[1][12][13]
Early Access release
May 14, 2026, 08:00 PDT[5][7]
Price
$29.99 in Early Access; it rises when Early Access ends[6][1]
Sales
5 million copies within 22 days of launch[17]
Steam user reviews
Very Positive, 93% of 73,303[1]
Next update
Early Access 2, December 2026, no day announced[12]

Overview

Subnautica 2 is the third game in Unknown Worlds' Subnautica series, and the store page describes its setting as an alien world new to the series.[1] The player swims out from a safe point, gathers materials, scans plants, animals and wreckage for blueprints, crafts better equipment and builds bases, while keeping track of oxygen, food and water.[1][15] As in the earlier games, the player has no weapons.[9] Anthony Gallegos, the game's design lead, told Wccftech that the team aimed for roughly a third of the game to be new, a third unchanged from the earlier games and a third improved.[14][10] The game runs on Unreal Engine 5.[14] Unknown Worlds calls it a game made for one player first, with co-op as an option, and has promised no subscriptions, loot boxes, battle pass or microtransactions.[3]

The Early Access gameplay trailer Unknown Worlds' Early Access gameplay trailer of May 9, 2026: the colonists' guide tells the newly printed Pioneer to learn to survive, then the trailer dives through reefs, caves and a Biomod lab while a second voice warns against swimming to the tree.

Setting and story

The story begins with people forced from their homes by conflict and the Alterra corporation sending colonists to a new world on the ship Cicada, whose onboard AI insists the mission go on after something goes wrong.[1] The player is one of the crew, charged with preparing a home for the 40,000 other people still aboard.[13] Everyone on the mission is printed: minds are uploaded and placed into machine-made bodies, so a player who dies is printed again.[15] The ship's AI, NoA, steers the story through black box signals that the player follows across the sea floor.[15] The Early Access version holds only part of the story: Steam lists "some narrative" among the launch content, and Wccftech reported that the launch covers the first chapter.[1][14]

The premise, explained by GamingBolt GamingBolt's Early Access review sets out the premise: Alterra's colony program, the Cicada going wrong, and the player waking as a printed colonist on the new world.

How it plays

A dive starts with 45 seconds of oxygen, and the first upgrade raises it to 75 seconds.[15] Heat, depth and distance from air limit how far a player can go, and new equipment pushes those limits back.[15] Materials sit in fixed places where players can see them, not in random spots as in the first game.[14] The body itself changes: Adaptations are permanent traits gained from native plant life, such as the ability to digest local food, while Biomods are swappable abilities learned from creatures.[14] Update 1.1 raised the Biomods on offer from four to six.[10] Players complained at launch that predators were too hard to escape, and Unknown Worlds answered on May 20, 2026 that it would retune aggression, flares and the Survival Tool but keep the series' focus on survival over combat.[9]

Creature changes in update 1.1 Gallegos's Jul 7, 2026 vlog for update 1.1 shows the changes made after launch complaints: creatures that flinch and back off when struck with the Survival Multitool, and the Sonic Resonator's stun.

Vehicles, bases and co-op

The main vehicle is the Tadpole, a small submersible that docks into swappable bodies called chassis: the Scout Ray adds wings for speed and handling, and the Frog, planned for Early Access 2, gives it legs and arms.[14][26]

How the Tadpole works In the Dec 9, 2025 Dev Vlog on the Tadpole, the developers show how the submersible handles and how its parts can be swapped and upgraded.

Bases are shaped by pushing and pulling a core form, a system modeled on sculpting clay that a small team worked on for more than a year, and Kotaku's reviewer called its interface extremely effective.[14][15] The first update improved where the Tadpole Dock and Fabricator can be placed and added a separate storage building.[18]

Building a base The Mar 12, 2026 Dev Vlog on bases shows rooms and corridors being placed and then resized after they are built.

Up to four people can share one world: a host starts a session and invites friends, and players on PC and Xbox can play together.[7][28][13] The developers told Wccftech it is a single-player game that others can join, with no limit on how far apart the players roam.[14] Buddy System, the co-op update the launch roadmap promised, added voice chat that fades with distance, revives for downed players, emotes, trading and two new playable characters on Aug 19, 2026.[8][11]

Starting a co-op game IGN's May 15, 2026 guide walks through hosting a co-op session and inviting friends.

Studio and development

Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire founded Unknown Worlds in San Francisco in 2001, and its team now works from many countries.[27] Its games are Natural Selection (2002), Natural Selection 2 (2012), Subnautica (Early Access 2014, full release 2018), Subnautica: Below Zero (Early Access 2019, full release 2021), Moonbreaker (2024) and Subnautica 2.[27] The studio says all of its games were made through open development with their players.[4] Its July 2026 press release put the series' sales at more than 18.5 million units and named Fernando Melo as the game's executive producer.[18] Krafton, the South Korean company behind PUBG, agreed to buy the studio in October 2021 and said then that it would keep its structure and leaders.[23] Unknown Worlds revealed Subnautica 2 with a teaser on Oct 17, 2024 and planned Early Access for 2025.[2] On Jul 9, 2025, days after a change of leadership, the studio delayed it to 2026, saying playtests had shown areas to improve and that the extra time would bring more biomes, tools, vehicle upgrades, story and creatures.[4]

The Krafton lawsuit

Court papers later put Krafton's price at $500 million paid at once, plus up to $250 million more, an earnout, tied to the studio's revenue after the deal.[19] On Jul 1, 2025 Krafton dismissed chief executive Ted Gill and co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, giving as its reason their plan to release the game too early.[19] Steve Papoutsis became chief executive, and the team wrote that the people making the game had not changed.[3] Fortis Advisors, acting for the former shareholders, sued Krafton in the Delaware Court of Chancery.[19] The former leaders said Krafton had delayed the game to avoid paying the earnout; Krafton disputed this and countersued, saying they had abandoned the game and taken Subnautica 2 materials and documents.[20] A pre-trial brief filed in November 2025 alleged that Krafton's chief executive, CH Kim, set up a task force called Project X to take control of the studio and asked ChatGPT how to avoid the payout, Game Developer reported.[16]

Ruling and settlement

Vice Chancellor Lori W. Will issued her post-trial opinion on Mar 16, 2026.[19] According to a summary by lawyers at Mayer Brown, the court found that Krafton had no valid cause to dismiss the three and had wrongly taken control of the studio, and that Project X was formed at an AI chatbot's suggestion.[19] It reinstated Gill as chief executive with full operational authority over the Early Access launch, restored his access to the publishing platform, did not return the co-founders to their roles, extended the earnout period by 258 days and left damages for a later phase.[19] Days later, IGN published an internal memo from Papoutsis naming a May launch window; Gill's lawyers told the court that Krafton had broken the ruling, and Krafton replied that the memo was only a celebration of an earlier milestone.[22] On Jul 1, 2026 the parties announced that they had settled and would drop all pending claims.[20] Gill told Bloomberg that Krafton would pay bonuses to all of the studio's staff in three yearly installments, and he stepped down, with the companies to look for a chief executive from outside both.[20][21]

Release and sales

Unknown Worlds announced the release time, 08:00 PDT on May 14, 2026, on Apr 30, along with a launch price of $29.99 that covers every update through the full release.[5] It thanked players for 5 million wishlists on May 11.[29] The game launched on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox on May 14, and was included in PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate from that day.[7][12][13] Within 12 hours it had sold 2 million copies, with more than 651,000 people playing at once across the three platforms and a Steam peak above 467,000.[16] Krafton reported 5 million copies sold within 22 days, called it one of 2026's best-selling new releases, and put first-half revenue from the Subnautica games at KRW 232.5 billion.[17] Krafton also said it intends to develop Subnautica into a franchise.[17] Steam daily peaks had fallen to roughly 2,000 to 3,500 concurrent players in October 2026, in Vi.ki's readings of Steam's counts.[30]

Reception

As of Nov 7, 2026, Steam rates the game Very Positive, with 93% of 73,303 user reviews positive, and 86% of 1,666 in the previous 30 days.[1] Gamereactor gave the Early Access version 8 out of 10, praising its look, atmosphere and sound and its easier base building, while noting thin story content and bugs that stalled missions.[24] Kotaku's John Walker found it beautiful and liked its hard science fiction story, but called the oxygen progression too slow and the constant voice announcements tiring, and said its chain of quest markers felt linear.[15] The lack of weapons was the most argued point after launch: Notebookcheck reported that a studio member told players on Discord to play another game if they wanted to kill, and quoted Gallegos calling the rule a continued point of resistance among fans.[25] In its May 20 letter the team apologized for comments that had made players feel dismissed and promised creature changes, without adding combat.[9]

Updates and Early Access 2

A day after launch, Unknown Worlds set out a plan of a quality-of-life update, then a co-op update, then a larger release expanding the world, its creatures, tools, vehicles and story.[8] The first update, Adaptive Measures (1.1), came on Jul 8, 2026 with a field-of-view slider, two new Biolabs and more Biomod slots.[10] Buddy System (1.2) followed on Aug 19.[11]

Revives and new characters in Buddy System Gallegos's Aug 18, 2026 vlog explains how players can swim to a downed friend and share oxygen to revive them, and introduces the new characters Grace and Jegna.

The larger release, Early Access 2, is due in December 2026, Unknown Worlds said on Nov 3, with no day given.[12] Creative director Gallegos has called it the most substantial update since launch, with a new region of several biomes, new creatures, more of the story, a more frightening Collector Leviathan, new Biomods, the Frog chassis, and Dash moved from a Biomod to the Fins.[26] Unknown Worlds expects Early Access as a whole to last about 2 to 3 years, with the price rising at the full release.[1]

What Early Access 2 adds In the Oct 15, 2026 vlog that opens the Voyage to Early Access 2 series, Gallegos lists the update's contents: a new region, story, creatures, new Collector Leviathan behavior, the Frog chassis, new Biomods and Dash on the Fins.

  1. Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire found Unknown Worlds in San Francisco.[27]
  2. Krafton announces it is acquiring Unknown Worlds.[23]
  3. Subnautica 2 is revealed with a teaser, for Early Access in 2025.[2]
  4. Krafton dismisses Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire.[19]
  5. Early Access is delayed to 2026.[4]
  6. The Delaware Court of Chancery reinstates Gill as chief executive.[19]
  7. The release date and $29.99 price are announced.[5]
  8. Early Access begins on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox.[7][13]
  9. Krafton and the former leaders settle; Gill steps down.[20]
  10. Update 1.1, Adaptive Measures, is released.[10]
  11. Update 1.2, Buddy System, is released.[11]
  12. Early Access 2 is due, with no day announced.[12]

What we think

This section is Heartipedia’s own opinion, not sourced fact. Each view is reasoned from the facts cited above and from trends we see; it may turn out wrong. A prediction’s words are never changed once made: when the facts are known we add the result under it, right or wrong. Every prediction we have made.

Early Access 2 adds new ways to drive predators off, not weapons

We expect Early Access 2 to give players at least one new tool or ability whose main use is to scare off or escape predators, such as a Biomod or a Frog chassis move. We think it adds no weapon that can kill a creature, and that Subnautica 2 reaches its full release without one.

Why: Unknown Worlds' May 20, 2026 letter answered the launch complaints by promising better flares, a better Survival Tool and retuned aggression while defending the series' focus on survival over combat, and its two updates since then tuned creature reactions and the Sonic Resonator rather than adding damage. Gallegos has called the no-weapons rule a continued point of resistance among fans, which tells us the studio knows the pressure and has chosen to hold the line. The new region is described as one of the studio's scariest, with a more frightening Collector Leviathan, so it needs more escape tools, not fewer threats.

Prediction Confidence: Likely Check by: Jan 2027 Made

An outside chief executive, from a Western studio, by mid-2027

We expect Krafton and Unknown Worlds to name the studio's new chief executive by the end of June 2027. We think the choice is a veteran of a North American or European game studio, not an executive from Krafton or one of its other studios.

Why: The Jul 1, 2026 settlement said the companies would look for a chief executive from outside both, and four months later no name has been announced. Unknown Worlds is a fully distributed team founded in San Francisco, the game sells mainly on Steam and Xbox, and after a public court fight over control of the studio, a leader who looks independent of the owner is the clearest signal of peace to the team and to players.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Jun 2027 Made

Subnautica beyond games

We expect Krafton to announce a Subnautica project outside video games, a film, a series or an animated show, before the end of 2027.

Why: Krafton's results for the second quarter of 2026 said it intends to develop Subnautica into a franchise, in the same release that credited Subnautica 2 with helping drive a record quarter. A publisher with a fresh hit and the word "franchise" in its earnings release usually looks to screens next; we think the only question is how soon.

Prediction Confidence: Long shot Check by: Dec 2027 Made

Full release in 2028, with a PlayStation 5 version on the same day

We expect Subnautica 2 to leave Early Access in 2028, at the short end of Unknown Worlds' estimate, and we think it reaches PlayStation 5 on the day of its full release, not before.

Why: Unknown Worlds expects Early Access to last about two to three years from May 14, 2026. Below Zero took about two years from Early Access to full release, and Subnautica 2 entered Early Access a year later than first planned, with that year's extra biomes, tools and story already in it. Today it is on Windows and Xbox only, where Game Preview carries Early Access, and PlayStation has no such program; co-op with cross-play already works across three stores, so a PlayStation 5 version joining at the full release is the natural point.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Dec 2028 Made

Ten million sold by the end of 2027

We expect Krafton or Unknown Worlds to report that Subnautica 2 has sold more than 10 million copies by the end of 2027.

Why: It sold 2 million copies within 12 hours and 5 million within 22 days, before Game Pass players are even counted, and Steam reviews are still 93% positive after six months. Steam's daily peaks have fallen to a few thousand players, so the next five million have to come from the region updates, starting with Early Access 2 in December 2026, and from a full release at a higher price. We think two or three content updates a year, each a reason to return and to buy, get it there.

Prediction Confidence: Possible Check by: Dec 2027 Made

The no-weapons rule is right; the thin launch was the mistake

We think Unknown Worlds was right to keep weapons out of Subnautica 2, and we think the real weakness of its launch was how little of the world and the story it opened with, not the lack of guns.

Why: Fear and helplessness are what the series is known for, and the complaints about predators were answered by tuning, not by changing the game's nature. The faults critics listed are mostly about size: Gamereactor found the story thin, Kotaku found the oxygen progression slow and the path a linear chain of markers, and Steam itself lists only "some narrative" and several biomes. Steam's player count fell from above 467,000 on launch day to a few thousand by October 2026, the pattern of a game that ran out of things to do, not one that frustrated its players.

Opinion Made

Moments

  1. The Early Access gameplay trailer Unknown Worlds' Early Access gameplay trailer of May 9, 2026: the colonists' guide tells the newly printed Pioneer to learn to survive, then the trailer dives through reefs, caves and a Biomod lab while a second voice warns against swimming to the tree.
  2. The premise, explained by GamingBolt GamingBolt's Early Access review sets out the premise: Alterra's colony program, the Cicada going wrong, and the player waking as a printed colonist on the new world.
  3. Creature changes in update 1.1 Gallegos's Jul 7, 2026 vlog for update 1.1 shows the changes made after launch complaints: creatures that flinch and back off when struck with the Survival Multitool, and the Sonic Resonator's stun.
  4. How the Tadpole works In the Dec 9, 2025 Dev Vlog on the Tadpole, the developers show how the submersible handles and how its parts can be swapped and upgraded.
  5. Building a base The Mar 12, 2026 Dev Vlog on bases shows rooms and corridors being placed and then resized after they are built.
  6. Starting a co-op game IGN's May 15, 2026 guide walks through hosting a co-op session and inviting friends.
  7. Revives and new characters in Buddy System Gallegos's Aug 18, 2026 vlog explains how players can swim to a downed friend and share oxygen to revive them, and introduces the new characters Grace and Jegna.
  8. What Early Access 2 adds In the Oct 15, 2026 vlog that opens the Voyage to Early Access 2 series, Gallegos lists the update's contents: a new region, story, creatures, new Collector Leviathan behavior, the Frog chassis, new Biomods and Dash on the Fins.

References

  1. Subnautica 2 on Steam, Valve, 2026-11-07primary
  2. Early Access Coming in 2025, Unknown Worlds, 2024-10-17primary
  3. A Letter to the Subnautica Community, Unknown Worlds, 2025-07-03primary
  4. An Update on Subnautica 2 Early Access, Unknown Worlds, 2025-07-09primary
  5. Subnautica 2 Early Access Cinematic Trailer Released, Unknown Worlds, 2026-04-30primary
  6. Subnautica 2 Early Access Gameplay Trailer Released!, Unknown Worlds, 2026-05-09primary
  7. Subnautica 2 Early Access Released, Unknown Worlds, 2026-05-14primary
  8. Subnautica 2 Early Access Roadmap, Unknown Worlds, 2026-05-15primary
  9. A Letter to the Community from the Subnautica 2 Team, Unknown Worlds, 2026-05-20primary
  10. Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.1 - Adaptive Measures Update, Unknown Worlds, 2026-07-08primary
  11. Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update, Unknown Worlds, 2026-08-19primary
  12. From Creatures to Chassis - Voyage to Early Access 2, Unknown Worlds, 2026-11-03primary
  13. Subnautica 2 Coming to Xbox Game Preview on May 14, Xbox Wire, 2026-05-04primary
  14. Subnautica 2: Everything We Learned from Unknown Worlds, Wccftech, 2026-05-14press
  15. 12 Hours With Subnautica 2, Kotaku, 2026-05-14press
  16. Subnautica 2 has surpassed 2 million sales in 12 hours, Game Developer, 2026-05-15press
  17. KRAFTON Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results, Krafton, 2026-07-29primary
  18. Subnautica 2 releases first Early Access update as sales surpass 5 million, Unknown Worlds, 2026-07-09primary
  19. How a Buyer's AI Conversations Sank Its Earnout Avoidance Strategy, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance (Mayer Brown), 2026-04-20press
  20. Krafton and Unknown Worlds founders settle Subnautica 2 legal dispute, Game Developer, 2026-07-01press
  21. Messy Subnautica 2 saga ends with Unknown Worlds CEO departing again, Engadget, 2026-07-01press
  22. Reinstated Unknown Worlds CEO claims Krafton violated court order by leaking Subnautica 2's launch window, Notebookcheck, 2026-03-20press
  23. Krafton, The Company Behind PUBG, Acquires Subnautica Developer Unknown Worlds, Game Informer, 2021-10-29press
  24. Subnautica 2 (Early Access) review, Gamereactor, 2026-05-13press
  25. Dev says "go play Sons of the Forest" to Subnautica 2 players furious over no weapons, Notebookcheck, 2026-05-23press
  26. Subnautica 2's Next Update is Its "Most Substantial Yet", GamingBolt, 2026-10-15press
  27. About, Unknown Worlds, 2026-11-07primary
  28. Subnautica 2 multiplayer explained, PCGamesN, 2026-05-15press
  29. A Thank You to Our Community for 5 Million Wishlists, Unknown Worlds, 2026-05-11primary
  30. Subnautica 2 Steam player chart, Vi.ki, 2026-11-07self

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About this page

Drafted by
claude-opus-5-5 on 2026-11-07T09:00:00Z
Checked by
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Reviewed by
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Status
Published and revised continuously; this version is the one described here.
Published
7 November 2026
Last updated
7 November 2026, see what changed
Sources
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License
Text CC BY-SA 4.0; embedded videos and thumbnails remain their uploaders’ property, shown under YouTube’s Terms of Service; quotations excluded. Details

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