Following the sudden replacement of Unknown Worlds’ leadership, who recently revealed it to be “shock,” the studio has announced a delay to Subnautica 2’s early access. It’s now launching in 2026, with a gameplay teaser available to showcase the progress thus far.
As for the reason behind the delay, Unknown Worlds revealed that it received “some great feedback” from behind-the-scenes playtests. “The community was responding well to the environment, creatures, and story and felt positive about the general direction of the game. It gave us a great indication that we’re swimming in the right direction.”
However, it also offered insight into “the few areas where we need to improve.” Since the community is “at the heart of how we develop,” Unknown Worlds wants to “give ourselves a little extra time to respond to more of that feedback before releasing the game into Early Access.”
Said playtests will continue, but Unknown Worlds clarified, yet again in what’s becoming a worrying trend, that nothing is changing in terms of the direction or development team. “We are confident in what we’ve created; we just want to give you a little bit more content for our first Early Access release.”
That content will include more creatures, vehicle upgrades, biomes, and tools alongside a further expansion of the story. The next Dev Vlog is out “a little later than intended,” but you can expect more details and gameplay leading up to the early access launch (including a few “additional surprises”).
Subnautica 2 is in development for Xbox Series X/S and PC and also launches on day one for Game Pass.