Subnautica 2 is set to release in early access this year, continuing the influential underwater survival-crafting series that began back in 2014. Although the Subnautica developers and publisher have been clashing, the project itself is shaping up to be a worthy successor to its mainline and spin-off predecessors, expanding the watery depths of the IP for a vaster, more addictive, and more atmospheric experience.
Like Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, Subnautica 2 aims to present players with a diverse range of underwater environments to explore. Last year, we got some unintentional insight into the sequel’s spate of biomes through a dev vlog posted to the Subnautica YouTube channel in June 2025: Reddit user gamegeek292 managed to spot several biome names in the asset files shown in the video, and these, combined with other promotional materials, shed light on at least some of what Subnautica 2 will have to offer on the environment design front.
Subnautica Is Coming To An Unexpected Platform
As Subnautica 2 nears the beginning of early access, Unknown Worlds announces that the original game will soon be coming to a new platform.
Start Zone
This is most likely just a working title, and a rather self-explanatory one at that. We don’t get to see this starting area in the dev vlog in question, although it’s been reported that Subnautica 2 will invert the structure of the first game, starting players off deep underwater and having them work their way upwards. Of course, this would heighten the sense of fear that Subnautica can often evoke, and could also make for a steeper learning curve from the jump. In any case, we can expect Start Zone to serve some sort of tutorialization purpose, as well as set the tone for the rest of the game.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
Coral Gardens
There’s not much information about this biome, although its name indicates a kinship with the Grand Reef biome of the first Subnautica. The inclusion of the word “gardens” is a bit interesting, though: the Grand Reef is deep below the water’s surface, dark and illuminated by bioluminescent creatures, so perhaps Coral Gardens will be closer to the surface? It could be a coral-laden area with denser and more lush foliage, for instance.
Dolerite Spires
In the video that these biome names are extracted from, there are two folders listed among the other biomes with a “CG” prefix, which may indicate that they are sub-regions of the Coral Gardens. One of these folders refers to Dolerite Spires, a term partially derived from a real-world volcanic rock. It may be that Coral Gardens has an area with “spires” made of dolerite, or of coral resembling the rock.
Graveyard Spires
The other, much more ominous-sounding “CG” folder is called Graveyard Spires. If we apply the same theory about this being a sub-region of Coral Gardens, we can speculate that this may be an expanse of the biome characterized by some deadly environmental hazard, or perhaps an unusually high amount of carrion. A less morbid interpretation could be that the spires somehow resemble headstones.
Kelp Forest
To the pleasure of many fans, it looks like the Kelp Forest from the first Subnautica is getting a successor in the sequel. Like the aforementioned biomes, we don’t know too much about Subnautica 2’s take on the Kelp Forest concept, but assuming it uses the first Kelp Forest as a launching pad, it can be expected to be a mostly tranquil, safe, and productive area for resource-gathering.
The Kelp Forest is one of the first new biomes players can access in the first Subnautica, and as such, it has a special place in the hearts of many fans. However, since Subnautica 2 is set on another planet, there’s a strong possibility that this new Kelp Forest will somehow subvert expectations. At the very least, it will likely have radically different flora and fauna.
Void
In the first Subnautica, Void is the name given to the biome at the furthest reaches of the map. True to its title, Void is an ostensibly endless expanse with virtually no biodiversity or resources of any kind. The only creatures the player will encounter are the terrifying Leviathans, which are hostile and extremely dangerous.
Developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment has expressed an interest in making Subnautica 2’s Void a bit more substantive, not wanting it to be an “ecological dead zone” like in the first game. This could mean that the Void of Subnautica 2 will be quite different, and perhaps more practical, than its Subnautica 1 counterpart. That said, it’s also been confirmed that Leviathans will be making a return, with the brand-new Void Leviathan having already been revealed.
Other Confirmed Subnautica 2 Biomes
While the aforementioned biomes have been expounded upon to some extent, or seem to have reasonable points of comparison in Subnautica 1, there are others that are a bit more enigmatic. The following biomes will almost certainly make it into Subnautica 2, although how they will look and behave is more open to interpretation.
Safe Shallows Equivalent
This isn’t a biome that has been officially named (unless it is one of the other revealed biomes, such as Start Zone), but Subnautica 2 gameplay footage and trailers focus on calm, sandy areas near the ocean’s surface. Visually, this zone has a lot in common with the Safe Shallows starting area of the first game, and will likely serve the same purpose.
Jelly Plateaus
It’s hard for aquatic-themed games to resist including the mysterious and alien jellyfish, and Subnautica is no exception, featuring several jellyfish-adjacent creatures and even Jellyshroom Cave, an area with jellyfish-like flora. It’s possible that the Jelly Plateaus will be Subnautica 2’s version of this.
Overgrown Ruins
We get a glimpse of what appear to be some underwater ruins in the “Take a Deep Breath” Subnautica 2 trailer, which may be the Overgrown Ruins. It’s certainly one of the more captivating biome names, and hints at a deeper history lurking below the water.
Sparse Plains
Sparse Plains is almost comically self-explanatory, although it’s still not possible to be 100% sure of what it is. Perhaps the name is ironic, and this biome will actually have plenty of life to it, or maybe it will only appear barren before being revealed to have some strange secret.
VepZone
Based on the formatting and odd phrasing, this has been mostly written off as placeholder text. Thus, there’s not much to speculate about when it comes to “VepZone,” at least not at this stage.
World Tree
Finally, we have one of the most evocative names from the list of spotted Subnautica 2 biomes. As with all the other names, this could simply be a code or working title, but taking it at face value, we might also speculate that this is somehow related to the World Tree concept prominent in several real-world mythologies. Maybe this biome will literally be a giant tree-like structure, or perhaps it will service a pivot into something more existential or spiritual in Subnautica 2.
