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Updates and Patch Notes
June 4, 2026 at 06:39 PM
Added Hotfix 3 (June 1) section: DLSS 4.5, Interior Wall cost cut, Hammerhead/Marrowbreach/Nibbler tuning, Strike Armor and multiplayer fixes
Subnautica 2 launched into Early Access on May 14, 2026 and receives ongoing updates while development continues. This page tracks the public version history: the Early Access launch build, the day-one hotfix, and each numbered hotfix released since, with confirmed changes only. For the forward-looking plan of what is coming next, see the Early Access and Development Roadmap.
Updates ship as separate news posts and roll out to all platforms over time. Because the game launched on PC ahead of consoles, each patch reaches PC first and arrives on Xbox Series X|S once it clears certification. Further hotfixes are ongoing, and this page is updated as new ones are confirmed.
The table below summarizes every confirmed release in launch order. Detailed change lists follow in the sections beneath it.
Date | Release | Focus |
|---|---|---|
May 14, 2026 | Early Access Launch (EA1) | Initial Early Access build |
May 15, 2026 | Day-One Hotfix | Co-op base-editing fix |
May 19, 2026 | Hotfix 1 | Crash fixes and analytics gating |
May 20, 2026 | Community Letter | Direction statement, not a patch |
May 22, 2026 | Hotfix 2 | Resource adds, creature tuning, crash and bug fixes, policy revisions |
June 1, 2026 | Hotfix 3 | Graphics fixes, creature tuning, base-building cost cut |
The Early Access launch build opened with the opening story chapter, a focused set of biomes on Proteus, the launch creature roster, and the core crafting, Base Building, and Survival Mechanics loop. It supports single-player and up-to-four-player cooperative play with full crossplay from the start. The build shipped on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series X|S at $29.99, with day-one Game Pass coverage. A single purchase covers all updates through the 1.0 release and beyond. See Platforms and System Requirements for the full platform and hardware breakdown, and Early Access Launch Events for the launch milestones.
The first post-launch patch arrived the day after release and targeted a cooperative base-editing problem.
Addressed a Multiplayer and Co-Op bug where non-host players could not demolish walls in a shared base. The hotfix sharply reduced the failure rate, with a complete fix planned for a later patch.
Hotfix 1 focused on launch-week stability and on how the game handled analytics and telemetry.
Updated the crash-on-startup error message for AMD graphics cards on DirectX 12 to provide more guidance and support.
Fixed an infrequent crash tied to the Ping feature.
Enabled analytics only after the player accepts the Terms of Service.
Reduced the amount of data sent to backend services.
The notes also signaled that a further Terms of Service adjustment and an analytics FAQ would follow, and that the Xbox build was awaiting certification at the time of publication.
Six days after launch, the development team published an open letter rather than a patch. It acknowledged that creature balance needed work and that the studio respects the player request for direct ways to deal with hostile creatures while keeping the no-weapons design. The letter committed to a series of upcoming patches that would adjust creature aggression timing, aggro range, flare effectiveness, Survival Multitool effectiveness, and how creatures interact with vehicles and bases. It is included here for context because the balance work it describes began landing in the hotfixes that followed.
Hotfix 2 was the largest post-launch update of the launch month. It expanded resource availability at both ends of progression, tuned a creature behavior that had been frustrating vehicle users, fixed several crashes and exploits, improved performance on the highest visual preset, and revised the legal and privacy documents.
Added more Silver resource areas in the early-game region, easing an early-game bottleneck on a common electronics material.
Added more Troilite resource areas in the late-game region. Troilite is a scarce, non-respawning late-game material, so the additional areas give players more room before it has to be farmed.
Adjusted Hammerhead behavior so the creatures are no longer as attracted to Tadpole lights. Before the change, Hammerheads were strongly drawn to the submersible’s lights and would harass parked or piloted Tadpoles.
Fixed a bug that could teleport players back to base while they were exploring in a Tadpole.
Fixed an infinite-oxygen bug that occurred after dying of hunger or thirst while piloting a Tadpole.
Resolved a crash caused by losing a Multiplayer and Co-Op connection.
Fixed a random crash in the late-game region.
Improved performance when using the Epic visual settings preset.
Added an in-game callout letting players know that telemetry can be turned off at any time from settings. The callout shipped in English first, with translations planned for a later patch.
Revised the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy across multiple sections. Players are prompted to re-accept the Terms of Service on their next launch.
Hotfix 3 delivered the first batch of the creature-balance work promised in the May 20 community letter, alongside graphics-driver fixes and a base-building cost reduction. As with earlier patches, it reaches PC first and arrives on Xbox Series X|S after certification.
Upgraded DLSS to version 4.5.
Fixed issues that could cause DLSS to crash the game.
Fixed issues that could cause DLSS settings not to be saved correctly.
Fixed Frame Generation not being available in certain versions of the game.
Reduced Base Building Interior Wall costs to one quarter of their previous price, making interior partitions much cheaper to place.
Hammerheads no longer attack unpiloted Tadpoles, though they can still take an interest in them. The fix that left Hammerheads occasionally not drawn to Flares was also corrected.
Increased the overall damage of Marrowbreaches and spaced their attacks out so they strike less frequently.
Reduced Nibbler perception range so players are less visible to them, lengthened how long Nibblers circle before attacking, reduced their movement speed, increased their sensitivity to the Survival Multitool, and increased their overall damage.
Fixed a rare crash when starting games.
Fixed Multiplayer and Co-Op clients (not the host) reverting to their previous position when rejoining a session.
Fixed the Strike Armor modification stacking additively, which could reach a potentially game-breaking state.
Fixed goggles remaining visible in first-person view when exiting the Tadpole Haul Chassis as a passenger.
Localized the text callout on the Terms of Service acceptance screen, and added more context to crash reports for hard-to-reproduce issues.
Unknown Worlds continues to ship hotfixes and larger updates throughout Early Access. New releases are added to this page as their changes are confirmed. For the planned feature work that has not yet shipped, including the quality-of-life and cooperative updates and the larger biome and creature expansion, refer to the Early Access and Development Roadmap. Roadmap items are subject to change and are not reflected here until they are actually released.