If Subnautica 2 won't let you select 4K resolution, there's a remarkably easy fix

Subnautica 2 is here, and its sales figures are already impressive. However, it's important to bear in mind that it's an early access game (albeit a very good one) and that bugs are definitely present. For example, the game can refuse to provide a 4K resolution option, even if it's running on a machine with a 4K monitor.

Have no fear, though, because the fix appears to be very simple. Select fullscreen in the graphics settings menu, which will default your resolution to 1080p, hit apply, and then restart the game.

Bing bang bosh, a 4K option magically appears. If you've got the monitor to handle it, that is. I've personally tested this method alongside our Rob, who was also plagued with this particular issue, and it works perfectly on both of our machines.

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Gaming PCs can be finicky beasts, though, so some have taken to Reddit with alternative methods. One suggestion is to set your UI scale to 100% in the Windows 11 display settings menu, which also apparently fixes the bug.

Another redditor suggests a slightly more involved method. Reach_or_Throw says that accessing the game's .exe file properties menu and navigating to the Compatibility tab, before checking the box in the high DPI settings marked "Override high DPI scaling behaviour", also fixes the issue after a restart.

Comment from r/subnautica

If that doesn't work you could always take a dive into the config settings, which are stored in:

C:\Users\[name]\AppData\Local\Subnautica2\Saved\Config\WinGDK\GameUserSettings.ini

There are entries marked "LastUserConfirmedDesiredScreen" for width and height that you can manually set, too. Remember to save afterwards, and hopefully that does the trick if all else fails.

However, the simple fix listed above seems to squash the bug on our systems, so hooray for that. Subnautica 2 certainly has its quirks, but otherwise it's been a relatively smooth ride in our testing so far. It even runs pretty well, especially if you're prepared to drop a few settings from Epic to High for a mega frame rate boost.

Early access often leads to troubled waters, but at least these stormy seas seem to be easily quelled. I've run out of water gags now, so I'd best get back to it. Hopefully, it's all plain sailing from here.

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