Subnautica 2 has made a big splash in early access for PC and Xbox Series X|S, and developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment has outlined several planned updates for its underwater survival adventure. The developer says that its first updates will focus on gameplay improvements that address systems and smaller features before it moves on to larger expansions to the game world.
Updates to the game world, biomes, creatures, resources, tools, and vehicles are in the pipeline, as well as the next chapter in the Subnautica 2 story. “The entire dev team has been working hard to put together some great quality-of-life fixes for our first update,” the developer explained in a blog post. “This should help adjust and address some areas that need a little tweaking to make your Subnautica 2 experience even better.”
Improvements to co-op are also coming in the game’s 1.2 Early Access patch, with voice chat, player trading, revives, and more customization options being planned alongside improved HUD signals and base-building tools. Unknown Worlds stressed that the rough dates for each update can change. The studio also wants fan feedback to help shape the development of Subnautica 2, and is urging players to leave suggestions for what can be improved upon in the game through bug fixes, balance tuning, and optimization.
Quality-of-life update (Early Access 1.1)
Planned improvements to:
- Biomods system
- Blight encounters
- Wrecks gameplay
- Vehicle docking and fabrication
- PDA databank
- Voicelogs priority system
Planned additions:
- More passive biomod slots
- Storage cache
- Sprint
Co-op centric update (Early Access 1.2)
Planned improvements to:
- HUD signals
- Based Builder tool
- Pinned recipes system
Planned additions:
- Voice chat
- Emotes
- Player trading
- Player revive
- Additional customizations
Major expansion updates (Future update)
- Expand the world
- New biomes
- New creatures
- New resources
- New tools
- New vehicle
- Next chapter of the story
Subnautica 2 is one of Steam’s most-played games currently, and it has sold more than 2 million copies in less than a day. Despite the controversy generated by Unknown Worlds’ parent company, Krafton–which included game delays, lawsuits over the studio founders being ousted, and then reinstated–Subnautica 2 is shaping up to be one of this year’s big early access hits alongside Windrose. It’ll remain in early access for “about two to three years” according to its Steam page listing.
If you’ve dived in and you’re looking for some tips and tricks, you can check out our Subnautica 2 guides hub for a growing selection of walkthroughs.