Image: Unknown Worlds
Subnautica 2 has finally been revealed for a 2025 early access release date.
Developer Unknown Worlds has finally revealed Subnautica 2, its upcoming sequel to the widely beloved 2018 survival game. This will be the third game in the Subnautica series, following Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero - the latter of which was considered to be a sequel until this announcement was made.
Subnautica 2 will enter early access in 2025.
Subnautica 2 announced, launching in early access in 2025
Developer Unknown Worlds has announced that it’s working on Subnautica 2, a sequel to its hit 2018 underwater survival game. The developer released a trailer for the sequel during this week’s Xbox Partner Preview, though it doesn’t contain any actual gameplay footage. All it really does is promise a welcome return to Subnautica’s lively underwater world - complete with gigantic menacing deepwater animals.
Thankfully, Subnautica 2’s Steam page does enough to colour in the rest of its gameplay details for us. According to the page, this sequel is set on an all-new alien ocean world as “the next chapter in the Subnautica universe” with a new story campaign. This time, you play as a pioneer travelling to a distant world despite problems that arise during your mission. At the behest of your ship’s AI, you’ll have to survive an alien world by adapting to its strange environments at all costs, while also completing your mission.
Subnautica 2 is also a multiplayer game, supporting up to three players in online co-op. Players will be able to explore the underwater world and hurdle its challenges together using tools, submersibles and bases. New tools are now available in the sequel, and bases have an overhauled building system for more customisation.
Subnautica 2’s new world is filled with a variety of biomes ranging from “towering underwater cliffs to lush coral fields” with all manner of fish and other mysterious lifeforms (yes, Leviathans are back) to investigate. Players will use a Biosampler to sample these creatures and study them, while figuring out why this alien world has been knocked out of balance.
Subnautica 2 is launching in early access sometime in 2025, with “additional biomes, creatures, craftables, and narrative” content being added to the game all the way up until launch day. The game is expected to stay in early access for two to three years before getting a full release.