Subnautica 2 amassed five million wishlist entries, and 12 hours after its Early Access launch, sales had already surpassed two million. The game has taken the gaming world by storm, with an impressive 467,582 concurrent players on Steam. But what is behind this phenomenon?
Subnautica 2 is an underwater survival adventure game set on an alien planet. However, disaster strikes during the journey of the colony ship Cicada, which is transporting players and fellow pioneers to their new home. Stranded and facing daunting odds, players must try to survive in this oceanic environment. The ship's AI insists that the mission must continue for the future of humanity. Players must explore long-forgotten ruins and learn to adapt to a planet that may not want them there. Like its predecessor, the game features classic survival gameplay centred on gathering resources (with no randomised spawning), building a base, and extensive exploration. Players can discover everything from the smallest creatures to looming Leviathans lying in wait. Every dive provides an opportunity to uncover the reasons behind the ship's AI's determination to continue with the mission.
The biggest new feature is probably that it can now be played in online co-operative multiplayer mode with up to three friends (4 players in total). The previous two games were exclusively single-player. Multiplayer offers full cross-play between PC and Xbox, as well as a clever progression system: any group member can save the session's progress and continue playing later as the host. Progress is shared within a co-op group. Additional co-op features, such as proximity voice chat, will be released later. Players can choose from four pre-designed characters, with more characters and customization options coming throughout Early Access. Even when playing Subnautica 2 alone, the feeling of loneliness and being lost resurfaces, as does the sense that something vast and unknown lurks in the depths. Though these spine-chilling moments could still occur more frequently, they won't be present right at the start of the game, even in its current Early Access state. Exploring the depths is interesting, exciting and fun. Players encounter a surprisingly large number of remnants from previous expeditions, and a contagious plague called 'Bloom' infects plants and animals, causing them to behave aggressively.
Playing in multiplayer mode with friends makes players feel slightly safer, but the overall atmosphere remains highly captivating. This is partly because, once again, players have no weapons — no firearms — and must either avoid threats or scare them off using non-lethal equipment. Rather than levelling up in the traditional sense, players adapt their bodies and DNA to the conditions of the alien world. By collecting samples of flora and fauna, players develop passive abilities, and biomods allow them to customise their character according to their preferred play style. Not surprisingly, the scanner plays a crucial role in the entire progression system. As in other survival games, advanced equipment becomes available later on, enabling players to reach areas that were previously inaccessible.
The base building system has also evolved. Rather than rigid, prefabricated room blocks, the game now features a dynamic system and a modular construction approach. Based on Unreal Engine 5 rather than Unity, the game includes modular construction tools that allow players to build and expand their underwater bases piece by piece. The expansion works by enabling you to 'stretch' existing rooms, thereby creating organic curves. This approach offers greater flexibility in terms of exterior structures and interior layouts, allowing players to customise elements such as windows, hallways and other details, creating anything from compact survival shelters to expansive underwater exploration centres.
Nevertheless, it's worth noting that even in its current Early Access state, Subnautica 2 feels very polished and offers enough content to justify its price. Even so, like its predecessors, the game is designed to evolve through Early Access and community feedback.
Subnautica 2 is being developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment, a company founded by Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire in San Francisco, California, in 2001. The studio originated from the Half-Life modding scene with Natural Selection. Since then, the studio has gained worldwide recognition for Natural Selection 2, a hybrid multiplayer strategy/shooter; Moonbreaker, a turn-based strategy game; and the Subnautica series, which has sold over 18.5 million units worldwide. The Subnautica series consists of two games: Subnautica, released in Early Access at the end of 2014, and then firstly on PC at the beginning of 2018, and later on other platforms. The second game in the series is Subnautica: Below Zero, which entered Early Access in January 2019 and was released as version 1.0 in May 2021. Below Zero was initially conceived as DLC for the original game, but it grew in scope, leading Unknown Worlds to release it as a standalone (spin-off) product. They are a fully remote team that is distributed across the globe, spanning the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and beyond.
The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 had such a profound impact on the founder of the studio, Charlie Cleveland, and his team that they decided to use their next project to take a stand against gun violence in the real world and in video games. This is why there are no firearms in Subnautica. The sequel, Subnautica 2, also features no lethal weapons; instead, players can use distraction and defense mechanisms such as sonic pulse devices and stealth mechanics.
In October 2021, South Korean company Krafton acquired Unknown Worlds Entertainment (UWE). UWE will operate as an independent game development studio, wholly owned by Krafton, and will continue to operate globally with talent seated throughout the world. According to reports, the initial payment was $500 million, with a further performance-based payment of up to $250 million. However, Krafton and the founders of Unknown Worlds have been involved in a serious legal dispute since 2025 over the payment of the agreed bonuses. Krafton is accused of deliberately delaying the development of Subnautica 2 in order to avoid paying the bonuses, totalling $250 million, which had been agreed. In July 2025, CEO Ted Gill, co-founder and creative director Charlie Cleveland, and co-founder and technical director Max McGuire were removed from UWE (and replaced by Steve Papoutsis). The publisher accused the founders of "abandoning" the project and neglecting their leadership roles. The dismissed founders filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery. They claimed that Krafton had postponed the release of Subnautica 2 until 2026, meaning that the revenue targets set for the end of 2025 in order to receive the $250 million bonus would be unachievable.
In March 2026, the court ruled in favour of the developers. Ted Gill, the dismissed CEO, was reinstated. The court found no sufficient grounds for the dismissal. The judge ordered that the deadline for the $250 million bonus be extended to at least 15 September 2026, with the option of extending it further. As part of this, Krafton was ordered to restore Gill's access to Steam and give him authority over the Early Access launch of the game. Shortly afterwards, Krafton announced that the Early Access period would begin in May 2026. The legal dispute is now moving into a new phase regarding damages. (Sources: IGN, Kotaku, Reuters, Bloomberg, wccftech).
Some weeks before the launch of the game, the publisher listing on Steam changed. At the beginning of April 2026, both Unknown Worlds Entertainment and Krafton Inc. were listed as publishers, as can be seen via the Wayback Machine. However, recently, only Unknown Worlds Entertainment has been listed as the publisher. We therefore contacted Krafton and received the following response: "Krafton is currently focusing on supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2. We are unable to share any further details at this time."
"The Early Access launch of Subnautica 2 marks the beginning of an adventure to chart the unknown deep alongside players worldwide. Player feedback is the compass guiding our direction, and we will continue building the experience together with the community throughout Early Access." - Fernando Melo, Executive Producer of Subnautica 2
Subnautica 2 has launched on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox (Series X|S consoles and PC) at a price of €29.99. It is also included in Xbox Game Pass.
Based on previous Early Access games they have developed, Unknown Worlds Entertainment estimates that Early Access for this game will take about two to three years. "We make our best games when you are involved from the start. The earlier you play, the faster we hear what you want. This is how we have historically built our games. By involving you in the development process and iterating on your feedback, we build better games," they say. Throughout Early Access, they plan to release a number of updates that will add new content to the game, such as more biomes, creatures, craftable items, features and narratives. The first update, which will mostly comprise quality-of-life tweaks such as improvements to the bio-mod system, vehicle docking and fabrication systems, will be followed by a co-op-centric update featuring proximity voice chat, emotes, a revive system and avatar customisation options, as well as upgrades to the base building tools and pinned recipes. The price of Subnautica 2 will increase after Early Access.
Building on the strengths of its predecessor, Subnautica 2 offers an impressive underwater world that thrives on exploration and survival. Even in Early Access, it offers many useful quality-of-life features and an optional co-op mode that is well executed. However, the developers are playing it safe in terms of gameplay innovations, even though the game is set to grow significantly while still in Early Access.
