Revision 1

The Colonist Logs are an in-build network of recovered blackbox recordings and audio-log devices that collectively form the human-voice side of Subnautica 2's narrative. Each recording belongs to a named Pioneer who was aboard the CICADA before its course change and atmospheric breakup; the recordings are scattered across the wreckage field and are recovered as the player explores. Together they trace the colonists' last days on the ship, their landings on the ocean moon, and, in several cases, their deaths.

How They Are Found

Blackbox devices and personal audio logs are scannable items present across the launch-build map. Recovery is triggered by the Scanner; once a device is scanned, its recordings are catalogued under the colonist's name inside the PDA Data Bank. Most blackbox recordings carry a single colonist's voice line plus contextual cues such as ambient sound, alarms, or the responses of nearby crew.

Named Colonists

Several colonists are present by name in the launch build. The list below reflects in-build PDA entries plus cross-referencing against the recorded blackbox audio. Names without clear in-build voice attribution are hedged.

Sophie, Wu, and Nahema are present in the live build's PDA Data Bank entries, but the specific voice line and arc each one anchors has not been independently confirmed against in-build audio at the time of writing. If a subsequent sweep finds direct voice recordings for any of these names, the corresponding row above will be expanded.

Narrative Function

The Colonist Logs are the primary mechanism by which Subnautica 2 externalises the experience of the rest of the Pioneer crew. The player character is one of four pre-designed Pioneers; everyone else the player learns about is reached through the Logs. The Logs serve three concrete narrative purposes in the launch build:

1. Provide an audible record of the Noetic Advisor's course change and the colonists' immediate reactions to it.
2. Frame the Adaptations system as a survival response to the moon's conditions, by associating each Adaptation pickup with a colonist whose death or escape clarifies its biological cost.
3. Build the named-location map. Many of the in-build location names, including Tadpole Pens and references to features such as the Hot Cave or Kuraltai, are first surfaced through these recordings rather than through environmental signage.

Status In The Live Build

The Colonist Logs network is in the Early Access launch build as of 2026-05-14. The launch-build PDA Data Bank contains 505 entries in total across all categories; the Colonist Logs are one of those categories, alongside creature dossiers, geological data, Axum glyphs, and points of interest documented in PDA. Additional logs and additional named colonists are expected to be added in later updates per the Early Access and Development Roadmap; nothing in the live build pre-empts that future content.

See Also

• The PDA Data Bank.
• The Tadpole Pens anchor location for Zip and Ganzo.
• The CICADA colony ship.