Subnautica 2 has been brought to Steam through Early Access, giving players another crack at diving the depths of alien oceans, and it’s safe to say that it has been a resounding success. As an Early Access title, the game still has a ways to go before it is molded into its final shape—something the developers are keenly aware of.
To that end, the team at Unknown Worlds Entertainment has provided a roadmap for the game’s future improvements and content additions. Although the details of the exact changes have not been fully revealed, the changes you see listed below are broken up into three future update categories:
- Quality of Life Update (EA 1.1)
- Co-op Centric Update (EA 1.2)
- Major Expansion Updates (Future)
Subnautica 2 has entered Early Access on PC, and is also available on Xbox Game Pass through the Game Preview system. The Roadmap notes no distinction between these platforms, so any changes could be reasonably assumed to apply to all versions of the game.
What to Do First in Subnautica 2
Not sure where to start in Subnautica 2? Here’s the best early progression path, with details on key upgrades and important tools to unlock first.
Quality-of-Life Update
These adjustments are aimed at the general gameplay flow, making the encounters and systems they touch more interesting, engaging, or intuitive than their current iterations. These updates are planned for the first Early Access update, EA 1.1.
Biomod System
The current Biomod system in Subnautica 2 is split between active and passive Biomods, which are unlocked through using the bioscanner on various deep-sea fauna in the oceans of Proteus. Active Biomods need the input of players to function properly, but can boost player capabilities in distinct scenarios, with abilities like Sonic Echo highlighting nearby resources and Dash allowing players to move more quickly. Passive Biomods are innate boons that are a bit less engaging, but still offer great benefit, with Biomods like Water Retention doubling the amount of water you intake.
That said, the balance in the usefulness of these abilities is completely out of whack. While some like Dash can completely change how you interact with the game, others like Dermal Garden are barely useful at all. Given the limited availability of Biomod slots, having such a disparity in usefulness limits what most players will add to their kit.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment is surely aware of the reception to these mods and how players are using them during play, so here’s hoping they can find a way to make the lesser choices more appealing. Given the fact that it is the first item on the roadmap, it’s fair to say it’s a priority item.
Blight Encounters
Similar to the Kharaa Bacterium from the first game, the Blight acts as a threat to players by infecting the planet’s ecosystem, making foes more aggressive and environments more hazardous. As currently constructed, these encounters come off as a bit tedious, nearly requiring the use of specific biomods to advance. The scope of the encounters is also limited, so there remains room to improve the variety of encounters players can face as they explore reefs and wrecks.
Wreck Gameplay
Wreck gameplay is set to get some adjustments, as well. Hard to say what the focus will be on making improvements here; do they try to make exploring wrecks more interesting, or will they work to add more wrecks in the empty spaces between points of interest? Perhaps the game could use a bit of both, or even change the presence of creatures within and around the wrecks.
How Subnautica 2 Will Make the Ocean Feel Alive
GameRant interviews Subnautica 2 devs Anthony Gallegos and Scott MacDonald about the sequel’s new tech improvements, narrative mystery, and gameplay.
Vehicle Docking and Fabrication
The Vehicle Fabricator is a great tool for making new vehicles to use during exploration, but players have been a bit unhappy with the implementation. Subnautica 2 doesn’t thoroughly explain how each tool or item works, so the required size and space needed to house both a moon pool and the fabricator are discovered through trial and error, and the finicky base collision may mean you won’t have clearance to place the item even if the space available seems like enough. The Tadpole Dock has similar issues, with placement being quite particular about the space required.
PDA Databank
This one seems like an easy one to gauge the direction of the updates, as the current PDA Databank is quite limited. Given the small number of entries currently visible for reading, adding new entries will go a long way to fleshing out the world of Subnautica 2.
Many of the current entries are quite long and can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs. These logs give breakdowns on the ecology and behaviors of the creature you encounter, and are more than simple regurgitation of information—they can even veer into philosophical or poetic rhetoric! If future entries are of similar quality, this will be a huge boon for the world of Subnautica 2.
Voicelogs Priority System
The voicelogs in the game offer some great informational tidbits and characterization, offering the most engaging narrative hooks and mysteries the game has to offer. The voicelogs in Subnautica 2 are a bit more horror-oriented than in the first game, as well, lending themselves well to the atmosphere.
However, their placement often means that blueprints and other items are acquired in short order after starting the logs, and those blueprints have their own voiceline that interrupts the voicelog, spoiling the flow of the story being told. While it hasn’t been stated that this is the direction they’ll be going in, ensuring voicelogs continue to play as you explore and gather will serve the game well.
Subnautica 2 Buyer’s Guide for Early Access
Subnautica 2 launches in early access on May 14 with co-op multiplayer, Game Pass support, leviathans, vehicles, and years of planned updates.
EA 1.1 Planned Additions
These are gameplay additions that are slotted for release in the EA 1.1 patch.
More Passive Biomod Slots
The current Passive Biomod slots are limited to 1 per character, so the addition of more slots will help alleviate some of the issues we detailed earlier regarding Biomod selection, while also opening up more customizability for players.
Storage Cache
Storage will be a welcome sight for anyone looking to build up their base. Given the current workload of gathering resources and crafting separate building materials, the limited on-person space can be a bit frustrating as you try to juggle all of your needs. Being able to offload excess food, water, and materials will be a huge improvement in the flow of the game.
Sprint
Some bases can become quite large once fully developed by players, making navigation a time-consuming prospect. To aid in navigation, a sprint function is being added to speed up moving from point A to point B while on foot.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
Co-op Centric Update
Subnautica 2 has introduced co-op to its core experience, with players able to join friends in a game world with shared progress. Co-op also has some mode-specific adjustments incoming to make playing with friends a much more enjoyable experience. These are all slated for release via the EA 1.2 patch, meaning they’ll run a bit behind the previously listed updates.
Hud Signals
Playing with friends is a great time, but the HUD during multiplayer is a bit lacking. This update will include more HUD signals that make coordination a bit easier, providing information to one another without the need to say it.
Base Builder Tool
Base building is one of the most rewarding aspects of the game, but it can feel a bit overwhelming for new players. This list item is a bit too vague to really pin down what the exact tool capabilities entail, but one would assume it will help with base building in a cooperative setting.
Pinned Recipes System
Subnautica 2 has a massive number of crafting recipes, ranging from equipment and tools to food and basic materials. Finding a specific recipe can be time-consuming if you just sift through the menus, but the game does have a way to pin recipes so you can keep track of your progress in obtaining the necessary items.
Unfortunately, the advanced recipes have a large number of materials, and pinning multiple recipes really clutters up the screen. Unpinning base and furniture pieces also cannot be done quickly in the same way that other recipes can be. Addressing both of these issues will make for a smoother gameplay experience.
Subnautica 2: How to Get a Repair Tool
Repair Tool is beneficial for maintaining your base and exploring wrecked bases, but it requires some advanced materials, which we’ve got right here.
EA 1.2 Planned Additions
Update EA 1.2 will also come with a plethora of multiplayer-focused additions, such as Voice Chat, Player Trading, Player Revive, and additional customization options.
General Improvements and Additions
Between and beyond all of these improvements and adjustments, the team at Unknown Worlds has also reaffirmed their commitment to ongoing improvements in the forms of bug fixes, balance tuning, and optimization.
Expansion Updated
As the Early Access period progresses, there are plans for major expansion updates, as well. While the world of Proteus is quite large already, this new expansion will expand the world by adding new biomes, creatures, resources, tools, and vehicles. On the story side of things, a new chapter is also in the works. Of course, player feedback is at the core of what Subnautica 2 aims to do, so using the in-game feedback tool will help guide the direction of the game going forward.
All of these changes sound like welcome additions and should help Subnautica 2 reach the highs of its predecessor. That said, roadmaps are prone to change, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes peeled for any new reveals or changes in the planned output.
