Subnautica 2

Unknown Worlds' co-op underwater survival adventure, currently in early access.

14 May 2026 · Paid

About Subnautica 2

Subnautica 2 is an underwater survival adventure game set on an all-new alien world. It is the next chapter in the Subnautica universe, developed by Unknown Worlds. Driven from your home by ongoing conflict, Alterra offers you the chance at a new life. But as the colony ship CICADA shepherds you and your fellow Pioneers to your new home, something goes awry. The ship’s AI insists that your mission should continue. Stranded and faced with near-insurmountable odds, you must do everything in your power to survive. The future of humanity on this world is in your hands. PLAY ALONE OR WITH FRIENDS Subnautica 2 is being crafted as a single-player experience that you can optionally play in online co-operative multiplayer with up to three friends. You can choose from four pre-designed characters, with more characters and customization options coming throughout Early Access. Work together to explore long-forgotten ruins and learn to adapt to a planet that might not want you there. ADAPT TO SURVIVE To survive the depths and make this planet your home, you’ll need to utilize all the tools at your disposal. Traverse vibrant and breathtaking biomes with your Tadpole submersible. Design and customize bases to return to when your adventures push you beyond the safety of shallow waters. As Early Access develops, so too will your array of tools, equipment, and vehicles. Upgrades will help push you beyond your boundaries and unlock the secrets of this strange world.

• Underwater survival and crafting
• Four-player online co-op
• New biomes and leviathans
• Multi-chapter narrative rollout
• Base building systems
• Full controller support
• Steam Cloud
• Family Sharing

Storyline

Because the game is still in early access, not much of the gameplay and story have been complete, as such, the majority of the story takes place before the playable character reaches the planet. The story before the main events of the playable game are as follows: En route to the desert world of Zezura, the Alterra colony-ship Cicada diverts course and crash-lands on an uncharted ocean moon, named Proteus. Due to extreme atmospheric pressure and severe heavy metal contamination all human life is left dead within minutes. To combat this, the ship's onboard "Noetic Advisor" (NoA), an advanced artificial intelligence, puts the backed-up consciousness of survivors in new physical bodies via "reprinting". NoA controls which brain state to restore, resulting in severe memory loss and dissociation. The initial colonists are afflicted by a psychosis characterised by hallucinations, violent behaviour, and suicidal thoughts, dubbed Masefield Syndrome by colony surgeon Sophie Boucher. The pioneers discover a highly territorial alien race, called the “Tailings” however, they are actually the remnants of a superior alien race which are known as the Axum. As disease, attacks by the Tailings, and other biological incompatibilities grip the survivors, NoA begins deliberately killing the pioneers and resetting them to much older states of themselves to make the effects of the “masfield syndrome” be reset. All these factors cause the settles to be driven to higher tension among themselves. 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 "World Tree" on the horizon, 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 Tadpole 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 (after this is when the playable character comes into the story). More than 25 years after the pioneers' disappearances, NoA prints a "Qualified Investigator" (QI), the playable character, to…

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. A cinematic trailer showed new vehicles, new creatures and environments. Players are also able to modify their own DNA to acquire abilities, a feature that was originally cut from Subnautica. As one of the first game's cut features, players were able to use a tool called the transfuser, along with a base piece called the centrifuge, to extract DNA from creatures in the ocean and use them to create consumable items that would alter the player's (or other creatures') attributes. In Subnautica 2, this is adapted into the biomod system. Players can use the biolab to access biomods, which give the player certain abilities (such as longer oxygen duration and faster speed when close to surfaces). Players can also use the bioscanner to unlock new biomods by scanning wildlife.