Subnautica 2

Subnautica 2 enters Early Access on May 14, 2026 at 08:00 PDT / 15:00 UTC. Unknown Worlds locked the date in the Cinematic Trailer published April 30, 2026, after first announcing the 2026 window with the Take a Deep Breath gameplay reveal in July 2025.

Yes. Up to four players in the same world with drop-in, drop-out co-op. It is the first mainline Subnautica game built for co-op from day one. Solo play is fully supported.

On a new ocean planet in the Ariadne Arm star system. This is a brand new setting, not the 4546B world of the first Subnautica. The Mongolian Independent States colonisation backdrop is established through the Voices from Beyond podcast.

The Collector Leviathan is the first leviathan fully revealed, shown end to end in a dev vlog covering concept, sculpting, rigging, AI behavior trees and VFX. More creatures are teased in gameplay footage and will be detailed in upcoming dev logs.

PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, plus Xbox Series X|S at Early Access launch. No PlayStation or Nintendo Switch version has been announced. Subnautica 1 launched on PS4 and Switch later, so more platforms may follow after full 1.0.

Subnautica 2 is developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment, the studio behind Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero. It is published by Krafton, which acquired Unknown Worlds in 2021. Subnautica 2 is the first full sequel under the new ownership.

No returning fauna has been confirmed. Subnautica 2 ships with a new ecosystem on a different planet. Expect callbacks in lore rather than the same species.

No public beta or demo has been announced. Wishlist on Steam, Epic, or Xbox to get notified the moment Early Access opens on May 14, 2026.

Unknown Worlds has not published an exact size. Dev vlogs have teased a world scaled for four-player co-op exploration, implying a larger playable area than Subnautica 1's roughly 2 km square. Final size is confirmed at Early Access launch.

Unknown. Unknown Worlds historically aims for save compatibility but makes no guarantees during Early Access, where game systems can change and break older saves.

The final Early Access price has not been announced. Unknown Worlds has said they want the game to stay accessible, in line with how the first Subnautica was priced during its own Early Access from 2014 to 2018. Expect a price bump at full 1.0 launch.

Unreal Engine 5, a generational leap from Subnautica 1's Unity renderer. Expect Lumen lighting, Nanite geometry, denser biomes, and full skeletal animation rigs on every creature.