Subnautica 2: All the key details on the survival-crafting sequel's dive into the abyss

The journey to getting Subnautica 2 on our PCs was once just a typical wait between progress updates, and a welcome 2025 early access release date on the horizon. However now, it's turned into a nasty saga of gutted senior leadership figures, court cases, a controversial delay, and then a plot twist reinstatement of the previous CEO and a new May release date. Phew—can this rollercoaster slow down?

Elsewhere in actual gameplay news, we have seen a slow and steady trickle of details on the next dive—teasers from showcases, Discord updates, and even screenshots hidden within time capsules in the original Subnautica. I've been scavenging the ocean floor for anything and everything new on the survival-crafting sequel, whether it be a shrimpy tidbit or a Leviathian-sized lore drop. Here's everything we know about Subnautica 2.

Is there a Subnautica 2 early access release date?

Subnautica 2 is now (apparently) launching into early access in May 2026. This release date news came after Krafton was court ordered to reinstate previous CEO Ted Gill. However, Gill said the very next day that this release date was news to him, and that Unknown Worlds' (soon-to-be-former) chief Steve Papoutsis had no authority to set that date. So weirdly, even though May is an official release date, we're not completely confident that Subnautica 2 will actually come out that month.

Whenever we do finally make the dive, the sequel's early access period will be available on Steam, Epic Games, and the Windows Store.

A brief history of Krafon vs Gill

Subnautica 2 was supposed to release into early access in 2025, but a 2026 delay was announced a few days after publisher Krafon gutted the senior leadship of developer Unknown Worlds; Designer and director Charlie Cleveland, CEO Ted Gill, and co-founder Max McGuire were all fired.

Things got even nastier when Krafton accused the former studio heads of effectively abandoning the project, which the publisher claims caused "repeated confusion in direction and significant delays in the overall project schedule." But a lot of people are suspicious since the delay just so happened to spare Krafton from paying Unknown Worlds a $250 million bonus for releasing before the end of 2025. (As was the judge who ordered Gill's reinstatement, as this bonus period was extended to September 2026.)

Then, former designer and director Charlie Cleveland confirmed that the trio were suing Krafton, reiterating that Subnautica 2 was in a state to release into early access.

Since then, a leaked (negative) internal review of the game was confirmed as real by Krafton, the previous senior leadership figures were being sued by the game's developer (Unknown Worlds) too for stealing confidential material, and Krafton bizarrely did a legal U-turn on whether or not the state of the game was a factor in the firing of the former leadership figures. Then, Gill was reinstated by a judge, and the May release date was announced without his knowledge or approval.

So yeah, it was a whole thing, and honestly, still seems to be a whole thing. All I can say is as annoying as this is for the fans, it must be so much worse for all the poor devs having to continue working through all these leadership changes and dramas. They deserve that bonus.

Subnautica 2 trailers and footage

Subnautica 2 Dev Vlog - Road to Early Access - YouTube

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The first Subnautica 2 teaser stirred up more hype for its big ol crabs, but the 2024 Xbox presentation didn't reveal any gameplay footage. This developer vlog dives a little deeper, offering a look at building in the new alien ocean and outlining the exploration game's early access plans.

Subnautica 2 gameplay and features

Is Subnautica 2 multiplayer?

Yes, Subnautica 2 has a multiplayer mode in the works, so those of us too terrified to gaze into the deep sea abyss alone can coordinate in groups of four. Co-op was one of those things everyone wanted in the first game, but only ever existed as a Subnautica mod.

There's a whole PC Gamer write-up recalling encounters with Leviathans in Subnautica as part of our Great Moments in PC Gaming series, and I can't tell you if my giddy terror emphatically agrees or disagrees. But what I can say is, it wouldn't have taken me days to conquer the beginning of Subnautica had I brought a friend to hide behind.

This dev log video shows the sequel's multiplayer mode in action.

Base-building

A dev blog on base-building calls the brand new system "challenging," and "logic-heavy," with the main change being with the procedural system, meaning you're not constrained to a basic shape when building. In the future, we'll be able to paint our base, change different colors and cosmetic options inside, change the color of lights, and toggle them on and off. With multiplayer, this means you're able to base-build with friends now! Or base-destroy, I guess, if one of you feels like choosing chaos that day.

What else do we know about the Subnautica 2 early access?

There's not much out there about Subnautica 2, but we've gotten a few vague teases around what to expect in the sequel. Unknown Worlds confirmed it's off to greener pastures bluer oceans on a new alien world, and from how it sounds, there's no planet safe from a disastrously wrong AI:

"You are a pioneer traveling to a distant world, but something is amiss. The ship's AI insists you carry on the mission. This world is too dangerous for humans to survive… Unless you change what it means to be human. What creatures, intelligent or otherwise, await your arrival?"

With regards to the rest of that list, we know about a few more features Unknown Worlds has planned for the Subnautica 2 early access:

• Both co-op and singleplayer adventures
• An "overhauled" building system
• Additional craftables
• New biomes
• More Leviathans, with one briefly teased in Subnautica 2's roadmap, and another Cthulhu-inspired one teased via a dev blog
• "The Tadpole" is the sequel's new vehicle of choice, and you can see it for yourself in this dev blog.