Subnautica 2 is an underwater survival adventure developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment alongside parent company KRAFTON, built in Unreal Engine 5. The game is set on the ocean moon Proteus, with the desert world Zezura as the colony mission's intended destination. It supports both full single-player and up to four-player optional online co-op with full crossplay, and launched in Early Access on May 14, 2026 for $29.99 USD on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series X|S. The title is included with Game Pass on day one for the Ultimate and PC Game Pass tiers; the $29.99 figure is an introductory Early Access price that rises at the 1.0 release.
The game was first revealed during a partner showcase in October 2024 with a cinematic trailer showing two divers attacked by a massive glowing leviathan on a new alien world. Early Access was originally targeted for 2025, delayed to 2026 following a leadership shakeup at Unknown Worlds in July 2025, and then confirmed for May 14, 2026 after a March 2026 court ruling reinstated CEO Ted Gill. See Early Access Launch Events for the launch-week schedule and rewards.
Core Features
Players take on the role of pioneers who have spent years asleep during the colony voyage. Their Noetic Advisor guides them through the mission while they survive the moon's hostile ocean. The game retains open-world exploration, Base Building, crafting, and Survival Mechanics from its predecessors, but introduces several new systems.
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Genetic modification | The Biosampler tool lets players take DNA samples from alien creatures and modify their own genetics through the Adaptations system. This is a core deep-survival mechanic, replacing the franchise's older equipment-only approach to pressure tolerance. |
New vehicles | The Tadpole submersible is the launch-build personal vehicle: a modular one-pilot vessel. The Dive Elevator is a ride-on platform for vertical transport, and the Wakemaker is a handheld swim aid. A new multi-crew submarine, the Trident, is planned for a future Early Access update. |
No weapons | A confirmed core design pillar: Subnautica 2 has no traditional weapons, only collection and mitigation tools. Leviathans cannot be killed; survival relies on evasion and avoidance. The team reaffirmed this stance after launch despite some player pushback wanting combat. See the No-Weapons Philosophy page for details. |
Optional co-op | Up to four players can explore together online, with full crossplay across Steam, Epic, the Microsoft Store and Xbox-on-PC, Xbox Series X|S, the ROG Xbox Ally handheld, and Game Pass. The full game can be completed solo, and no content is locked behind multiplayer. |
New creature AI | Creatures like the Collector Leviathan use Unreal Engine 5 behavior trees and a stimulus system that makes them react dynamically to player behavior, light, and sound. |
Opening Sequence
Subnautica 2's opening begins with the player's ship breaking apart and sinking into the ocean moon's depths rather than a shallow-water lifepod start. Trapped in the flooding vessel, the player is directed to use a gene-altering process to withstand deep-ocean pressure. After surviving the crash, the player is propelled back toward the surface, getting a glimpse of the deep-sea creatures before the main gameplay loop begins.
Setting and Story
The game takes place on Proteus, an ocean moon with both underwater and surface environments, where a spreading corruption known as the Blight is taking hold of parts of the ecosystem. Proteus is not the world the colonists set out for: their destination was the desert world Zezura, which is never reached in the playable build and appears only as background lore in mission briefings.
The narrative is written by Seth Dickinson, who joined Unknown Worlds in May 2022. An audio drama called Voices From Beyond was released as a five-episode short-form series between November 2025 and March 2026 as a narrative bridge to Early Access.
Development
Unknown Worlds was acquired by KRAFTON in 2021 (around $500 million, with an up-to-$250 million performance-based earnout for the cofounders). The game switched from Unity to Unreal Engine 5, enabling larger biomes, volumetric water, and modern rendering. The Subnautica 2 storefront listings show Unknown Worlds Entertainment as both developer and publisher; KRAFTON remains the parent company.
Development hit turbulence in July 2025 when KRAFTON replaced cofounders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire along with CEO Ted Gill, installing Steve Papoutsis. In March 2026 the Delaware Court of Chancery found that KRAFTON had breached the equity-purchase agreement, reinstated Ted Gill as CEO, and extended the earnout window. See KRAFTON Acquisition and Controversy for full details.
Early Access Scope
The Early Access build ships with a focused initial offering: the opening story chapter, a set of biomes on Proteus, the launch creature roster, and the core crafting, base-building, and survival loop. Early Access is officially expected to last about two to three years. Planned future content includes new biomes, more creatures and leviathans, new resources and tools, the Trident multi-crew submarine, and the next story chapter, which opens up the World Tree and the Xanadu region. The 1.0 release will be more polished and feature-rich, with a price increase. See Early Access and Development Roadmap for the full update plan.
Monetization
Subnautica 2 uses a paid Early Access model with no subscriptions, loot boxes, battle passes, or microtransactions. A single Early Access purchase covers all updates through 1.0 and beyond. It is also included with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass from day one (the Standard and Core tiers do not include it). The one piece of paid DLC is the Subnautica 2 Original Soundtrack, a music DLC released alongside the May 14, 2026 Early Access launch.
Platforms and System Requirements
Subnautica 2 is available at Early Access on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series X|S, with day-one Game Pass coverage. A PlayStation 5 version is not available at Early Access and has not been officially confirmed for any date. Provisional minimum requirements call for an Intel i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 12 GB RAM, and a GTX 1660 (targeting 1080p/30 on low); recommended specs call for an Intel i7-13700 or AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, 16 GB RAM, and an RTX 2060 or RX 5600 XT (targeting 1440p/60 on medium), with around 25 GB of storage on Windows 10/11 64-bit. See Platforms and System Requirements for the full breakdown.
Launch Reception
The Early Access release was an immediate commercial success. Subnautica 2 reportedly sold around 1 million copies in its first hour and about 2 million in roughly the first 12 hours, reaching around 4 million copies and roughly $100 million in revenue in under a week. Peak concurrent players reportedly reached around 460,000 to 467,000 on a single platform, with the cross-platform peak approximately 467,582 (Steam peak). See Early Access Launch Events for the full launch-week breakdown.
Alongside strong reception, the launch drew community debate over Unreal Engine 5 performance, the scaled-back Early Access content scope, the no-weapons design, and the corporate dispute over the studio's leadership.
Unknown Worlds has supported the launch with frequent hotfixes; the chronological change list is tracked on the Updates and Patch Notes page, and the plan for upcoming content is laid out in the Early Access and Development Roadmap.