At a Glance
- Status
- Early Access — launched May 14, 2026
- Developer
- Unknown Worlds Entertainment
- Publisher
- Krafton
- Genre
- Underwater survival / exploration
- Players
- Single-player, or online co-op up to 4
- Platforms
- PC (Steam, Epic), Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass (day one)
- Launch price
- €29.99 (Early Access)
- Setting
- Proteus, an ocean moon in the M05 binary system
What is Subnautica 2?
Subnautica 2 is the third game in the Subnautica series and a direct sequel to the original Subnautica. You are one of 40,000 colonists of the Alterra Pioneer Program, fleeing the spreading Kharaa Bacterium aboard the colony ship Cicada. An unscheduled Phase Gate transit strands the ship at the wrong star system, where it breaks apart over the ocean moon Proteus — and your new life begins underwater.
It keeps the series' core loop — scan, craft, dive deeper, survive — and rebuilds around three big pillars: a fully modular vehicle (the Tadpole), an overhauled piece-by-piece base builder, and optional 4-player online co-op with shared progression.
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Story & Lore
The Cicada, the Pioneer Program, the Kharaa crisis, and the ocean moon Proteus.
Creatures
Titans, Leviathans, alpha predators and the fauna tiers below them.
Biomes
From the Starting Shallows down to the Abyssal Trench and the lethal Void.
Vehicles
The modular Tadpole, its chassis variants, and the planned sub and mech.
Base Building
The overhauled piece-by-piece habitat system, power, and crafting.
Co-op
Up to 4-player online co-op with cross-play and shared progression.
Most Dangerous Creatures
World Tree
A colossal, story-critical organism rooted in the deepest reaches of Proteus — the largest entity in the game.
Collector Leviathan
An enormous octopus-bodied predator — the largest free-swimming fish in the game — that pursues the moment it spots you.
Shiver Leviathan
A pack-hunting Leviathan with a protruding bone skull and bladed fins; lethal in the open Void.
Great Jaw
Nicknamed "Clamthulu" — an ambush Leviathan that snares prey with trap wires, then digests it in gastric acid.
The Descent
Subnautica 2's world is a vertical gauntlet — each biome deeper than the last, guarded by progressively worse things. Here is the path down:
Starting Shallows
The safe, sunlit entry biome where every run begins — abundant basic resources and almost no predators.
Stone Pillar Shallows
A safe early-game zone of towering vertical stone columns, ~200 m from the Lifepod.
Camp One Shallows
A rocky zone built around "Camp One", an abandoned pre-existing colonist outpost.
Coral Reef
A vivid mid-shallow biome — the first real ecosystem, rich in resources and patrolled by mid-tier predators.
Old Habitat (Jelly Barrens)
A deserted colonist habitat in jagged terrain draped with dead jellyfish — primarily a lore biome.
Necrolei Forest
A dense bioluminescent plant forest — the primary bulk-farming zone, with Anemone Hills and the Leadzone alongside.