Software:Subnautica 2

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Short description: 2026 video game

Subnautica 2
Cover art featuring two divers in front of a giant monster
Developer(s)Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Publisher(s)Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Krafton[1]
Composer(s)Ben Prunty
SeriesSubnautica
EngineUnreal Engine 5
Platform(s)
ReleaseMay 14, 2026 (early access)
Genre(s)Action-adventure, survival
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Subnautica 2 is a 2026 action-adventure survival game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. It is a sequel to 2018's Subnautica and the third game in the series after 2021's Software:Subnautica: Below Zero. The game was released in early access on May 14, 2026.

Gameplay

Set on a new planet, Subnautica 2 supports single-player and co-op gameplay with a total of up to four players. This is the first time multiplayer gameplay is present in the series.[2] A cinematic trailer showed a new vehicle, new creatures and environments and hinted at the introduction of an ocean current mechanic that can drag the player to another area.[3] Players are able to modify their own DNA to acquire abilities, a feature that was originally cut from Subnautica.[4]

Plot

Sometime after the events of Subnautica and Software:Subnautica: Below Zero, the Alterra colony ship Cicada en route to the desert world of Zezura inexplicably diverts course and crash-lands on an uncharted ocean moon, named Proteus by the survivors. Though the world is highly biodiverse, its extreme atmospheric pressure and severe heavy metal contamination renders all human life dead within months. To combat this, the ship's onboard "Noetic Advisor" (NoA), an advanced artificial intelligence, makes use of a technology known as "reprinting" to restore the backed-up consciousness of survivors in new physical bodies. Though the process grants survivors effective immortality, NoA controls which brain state to restore, resulting in severe memory loss and dissociation.

As the initial colonization team of pioneers begins building for survival, they are quickly afflicted by a psychosis characterized by hallucinations, violent behavior, and suicidal ideation, dubbed Masefield Syndrome by the colony surgeon, Sophie Boucher. The pioneers also make contact with a highly territorial sapient alien race, the Tailings, who appear to be a remnant of a far more advanced species. As disease, Tailing attacks, and other biological incompatibilities grip the survivors, NoA begins deliberately killing the pioneers and resetting them to much older states of themselves, driving tensions higher among the colonists. Survivor Nahema Nakota, severely affected by Masefield and weary of NoA's actions, forms a rebel faction called the Jubilee based on a fixation with the colossal tree on the horizon, dubbed the World Tree, encouraging survivors to abandon the colony and swim out to the tree's base. The Jubilee set off a bomb at one of the habitats, allowing Nahema to steal a vehicle and set off for the World Tree. Sophie in turn departs in pursuit of Nahema.

Over time, all of the initial survivors vanish or die without being reprinted. More than 25 years after the pioneers' disappearances, NoA prints a "Qualified Investigator" (QI), the player character, to investigate their whereabouts. The QI learns the fate of several survivors through various black boxes and voice recordings left at the colony's facilities. Eventually, the QI encounters a preserved simulation of Sophie maintained by a local NoA node. She explains that Masefield Syndrome is caused by Proteavirus, a viral organism pervasive throughout the moon and whose source appears to be linked to the World Tree. She also explains her belief that Nahema intends to poison the World Tree, ending all human life on Proteus and ravaging its ecosystem. She believes that the only way to stop Masefield Syndrome is to destroy the World Tree, and directs the QI to the ruins of an alien civilization.

Arriving at the ruins, the QI discovers a Rosetta Stone-like obelisk indicating that the aliens, known as Axum, made contact with the Architect race from the previous two installments. After restoring a damaged alien power plant, the QI activates a nearby alien observatory broadcasting a distress signal to the Architects. It explains that the World Tree corrupted the Axum, devolving their descendants into the primitive Tailings.

Development

Subnautica 2 was initially confirmed to be in production on April 8, 2022, as "the next game in the Subnautica universe".[5] In November 2023, publisher Krafton revealed in a financial report that it was to be released sometime in 2025.[6] This was followed by another report on February 8, 2024, that described it as a "multiplayer live-service game", creating fan backlash that prompted the developers to clarify that it would have "no season passes, no battle passes, no subscription".[7][8]

The first screenshots of the game were published in 2024, some of which were hidden within Subnautica .[9] A cinematic trailer for the game was released on October 17, 2024, during the Xbox Partner Showcase, with the early access release slated for 2025.[10] On April 23, 2025, the first in a series of dev blogs was posted on YouTube showing new content and early gameplay footage.[11]

Several major changes to the development team of Unknown Worlds Entertainment took place in July 2025 causing a number of lawsuits involving Krafton and the former development leads, with Krafton announcing that the early access release was delayed to 2026. A gameplay trailer was released alongside the delay announcement.[12]

In May 2026, unofficial builds of the game reportedly circulated online. Unknown Worlds Entertainment stated that unauthorized builds had appeared on the internet. Allegations regarding the source of the leak circulated online, though no evidence publicly confirmed the claims.[13]

It released as an early access title,[10][14] available on PC and Xbox Series X and S on May 14, 2026.[15] Subnautica 2 is made with Unreal Engine 5.[16]

Following a development team member's dismissive response to feedback from the playerbase, Unknown Worlds Entertainment published a letter to the community to apologize for some recent comments from the team and detail the game's direction, including improvements to creature balance, gameplay built around vulnerability, exploration, and survival rather than traditional weapon-based combat, and early access as a collaboration with the community.[17]

Staff firings and lawsuits

In July 2025, Krafton announced it had replaced Unknown Worlds' CEO Ted Gill—as well as studio co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire—with Steve Papoutsis. Papoutsis had previously served as executive and senior producer at Striking Distance Studios, the developer of The Callisto Protocol.[18] Following community backlash to the leadership change, Unknown Worlds reiterated that the game would have "no subscriptions. No loot boxes. No battle pass. No microtransactions."[19] Krafton stated that the original leadership were removed as they had abandoned their responsibilities at the studio, leading to significant delays in Subnautica 2's development. Development slides showing content changes were anonymously leaked to the media during July in an apparent attempt to defend the firings and quell a rising playerbase backlash against Krafton.[20]

Cleveland, McGuire, and Gill filed a lawsuit against Krafton related to their firings that same month. It had come to light that the firings and delayed release had come months before Krafton was due to pay the development team a bonus worth up to US$250 million based on revenue targets that a release into Early Access would have helped achieve.[21] The lawsuit revealed that the plan to avoid the payout was created through the use of ChatGPT by Krafton's CEO, Changhan Kim, after their legal team had warned him that the payout had to be made even if Cleveland, Gill, and McGuire were dismissed with cause.[22]

In March 2026, a judge reinstated Gill as CEO of Unknown Worlds.[23][24] The judge found that Krafton had "breached the EPA (Equity Purchase Agreement) by terminating the key employees without valid cause and by improperly seizing operational control of Unknown Worlds".[23] As a result, the board decision on July 1—at which Krafton fired the founders, took over control of Unknown Worlds and delayed Subnautica 2—has been "declared ineffective to the extent it infringes on Gill's operational control right".[23] Furthermore, the $250 million earnout period was reintroduced until September 15, 2026, with the option to be extended until March 15, 2027.[24]

On March 18, 2026, it was announced that the game would be released in early access in May 2026.[14] However, the reinstated Unknown Worlds' leadership team claimed that the news was improperly released by Krafton and "undermined the relief sought" for in the trial, which was for Gill to determine when and how the game is to be released. Krafton insisted that their announcement did not violate the order or show contempt.[25]

Reception

Sales

The game sold more than 1 million copies within its first hour of launch,[26] and 2 million copies within 12 hours.[27] Within its first week, it sold a total of 4 million copies.

See also

  • List of underwater science fiction works

References

  1. ↑ Manchester, Austin (April 30, 2026). "Subnautica 2 finally has a confirmed release date after months of messy drama". Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/subnautica-2-release-date-steam-early-access-pc-xbox/. "Gallegos confirmed to Polygon that Krafton is still, in fact, involved with bringing Subnautica 2 to market. "We're co-publishing it together," he said." 
  2. ↑ Hannah, Zoë (October 17, 2024). "Subnautica 2 will include multiplayer and take place on a new planet" (in en-US). https://www.polygon.com/news/466918/subnautica-2-announcement-multiplayer-new-planet. 
  3. ↑ McLarney, Andrew (October 20, 2024). "New Features Shown In Subnautica 2's Reveal Trailer" (in en). https://gamerant.com/new-features-subnautica-2-reveal-trailer/. 
  4. ↑ Ozoa, Enricko (October 23, 2024). "Subnautica 2 Takes Survival to The Next Level With One Feature" (in en). https://gamerant.com/subnautica-2-survival-improved-how-dna-adapt/. 
  5. ↑ Grimshaw, Jack (April 10, 2022). "'Subnautica' sequel in development at Unknown Worlds" (in en-GB). https://www.nme.com/news/subnautica-sequel-in-development-at-unknown-worlds-3201687. 
  6. ↑ Livingston, Christopher (November 21, 2023). "The next Subnautica game is coming in 2025" (in en). PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/undersea-survival-game-subnautica-is-getting-a-sequel-in-2025/. 
  7. ↑ Zwiezen, Zack (February 8, 2024). "Subnautica 2 Devs Quickly Clarify That, No, It's Not A Live-Service Thing" (in en). https://kotaku.com/is-subnautica-2-live-service-krafton-release-date-1851240327. 
  8. ↑ Wales, Matt (October 17, 2024). "Subnautica 2 gets first trailer, and it's launching into early access next year" (in en). https://www.eurogamer.net/subnautica-2-gets-first-trailer-and-its-launching-into-early-access-next-year. 
  9. ↑ Robertson, Joshua (July 29, 2024). "Subnautica Devs Are Sneaking Sequel Screenshots Into Time Capsules" (in en). https://www.thegamer.com/subnautica-devs-sneaking-sequel-screenshots-time-capsules/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Bailey, Dustin (October 17, 2024). "Subnautica 2, the third Subnautica game, hits early access in 2025 and finally brings multiplayer to the survival game series" (in en). https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival/subnautica-2-the-third-subnautica-game-hits-early-access-in-2025-and-finally-brings-multiplayer-to-the-survival-game-series/. 
  11. ↑ Makar, Connor (April 23, 2025). "Subnautica 2 kicks off its road to early access with its first dev vlog, diving into co-op and new features" (in en). https://www.vg247.com/subnautica-2-dev-vlog-road-to-early-access. 
  12. ↑ "Unknown Worlds / An Update On Subnautica 2 Early Access" (in en). https://unknownworlds.com/news/subnautica-2-coming-2026. 
  13. ↑ Philips, Tom (May 13, 2026). "Subnautica 2 Gameplay Appears to Have Leaked, Just Days After Forza Horizon 6 and LEGO Batman". https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-gameplay-appears-to-have-leaked-just-days-after-forza-horizon-6-and-lego-batman. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Valentine, Rebekah (March 17, 2026). "Subnautica 2 Will Finally Enter Early Access in May Following Year of Delays and Legal Drama" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-will-finally-enter-early-access-in-may-following-year-of-delays-and-legal-drama. 
  15. ↑ Blake, Vikki (May 12, 2026). "Subnautica 2 Global Release Times, Preload Details Confirmed" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-global-release-times-preload-details-confirmed. 
  16. ↑ Ratcliff, James (October 17, 2024). "Subnautica 2 Announced, Has 4-Player Co-Op" (in en). https://gamerant.com/subnautica-2-release-date-online-co-op/. 
  17. ↑ Daniels, Joelle (21 May 2026). "Subnautica 2 Developers Say Players Who Want to Kill Things Should “Go Play Sons of the Forest”". https://gamingbolt.com/subnautica-2-developers-say-players-who-want-to-kill-things-should-go-play-sons-of-the-forest.  Daniels, Joelle (18 May 2026). "Subnautica 2 Team Apologizes for Earlier Statements, Working on Creature Balance and Mitigation Tools". https://gamingbolt.com/subnautica-2-studio-acknowledges-need-to-do-better-with-communication-in-a-letter-to-the-community.  Yin-Poole, Wesley (20 May 2026). "'You're Not Ever Getting Actual Weapons, Sorry' — Subnautica 2 Dev Apologises for Recent Comments on Killing Fish, Promises Gameplay Changes but Rules Out Combat". https://www.ign.com/articles/subnautica-2-outlines-changes-coming-to-the-game-in-response-to-no-killing-fish-debate. 
  18. ↑ Gerblick, Jordan (July 1, 2025). "In a massive shakeup, Subnautica creators and Unknown Worlds co-founders have been replaced by The Callisto Protocol studio CEO months before Subnautica 2's early access launch" (in en). https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival/in-a-massive-shakeup-subnautica-creators-and-unknown-worlds-co-founders-have-been-replaced-by-the-callisto-protocol-studio-ceo-months-before-subnautica-2s-early-access-launch/. 
  19. ↑ "Unknown Worlds / A Letter To Our Community" (in en). https://unknownworlds.com/news/subnautica-community-letter. 
  20. ↑ Parrish, Ash (July 10, 2025). "Krafton slams ex-Subnautica 2 execs — who now say they're suing" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/news/704606/subnautica-2-delay-krafton-unknown-worlds-bonus. 
  21. ↑ Blake, Vikki (July 11, 2025). "Ousted Subnautica 2 Leadership 'Files Lawsuit' Against Parent Company Krafton as Row Over $250M Bonus Gets Personal" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/ousted-subnautica-2-leadership-files-lawsuit-against-parent-company-krafton-as-row-over-250m-bonus-gets-personal. 
  22. ↑ Taylor, Josh (March 18, 2026). "Subnautica 2 publisher's CEO used ChatGPT in failed bid to avoid paying US$250m bonus to own studio head, court hears" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/18/subnautica-2-publisher-krafton-ceo-reinstated-ai-chatgpt-failed-bid-avoid-paying-bonus. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Gach, Ethan (March 16, 2026). "Judge Orders Subnautica 2 Studio CEO Reinstated Amid Lawsuit" (in en-US). https://kotaku.com/subnautica-2-ted-gill-unknown-worlds-lawsuit-krafton-2000679131. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Schreier, Jason (March 13, 2026). "Judge Says Krafton Must Rehire Fired 'Subnautica' CEO". Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-16/judge-says-krafton-must-rehire-fired-subnautica-ceo. 
  25. ↑ Totilo, Stephen. "New dispute emerges around Subnautica 2’s early access release [Update"] (in en). https://www.gamefile.news/p/subnautica-2-early-access-may-dispute. 
  26. ↑ Bardhan, Ashley (May 15, 2026). "Subnautica 2 has already sold 1 million copies and it's been out for literally one hour". GamesRadar. https://www.gamesradar.com/games/survival/subnautica-2-has-already-sold-1-million-copies-and-its-been-out-for-literally-one-hour/. Retrieved May 15, 2026. 
  27. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 15, 2026). "Subnautica 2 Is Already Making Waves, Selling 2 Million Copies in Just 12 Hours". IGN. https://in.ign.com/subnautica-3/260922/subnautica-2-is-already-making-waves-selling-2-million-copies-in-just-12-hours. Retrieved April 17, 2026. 

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