Some two years after it was confirmed to be in the works, developer Unknown Worlds has given a first look at the eagerly awaited Subnautica 2 – with the underwater survival sequel’s debut trailer having now arrived alongside word it’ll be entering into early access next year.
Subnautica 2 – actually the third game in the acclaimed series, following on from the original 2018 entry and its 2021 standalone expansion Subnautica: Below Zero – was initially teased back in April 2022. It later came in for some controversy when publisher Krafton erroneously announced it would be a multiplayer live-service game.
Fans were unhappy with this seeming departure from earlier entries, and Unknown Worlds (which Krafton acquired in 2021) quickly moved to clear up any confusion – confirming that while Subnautica 2 multiplayer in as much as it supported co-op for up to four players, there’d be “no season passes, no battle passes, no subscription” and co-op was optional.
In fact, the existence of co-op is pretty much all we’ve learned about Subnautica 2 so far (aside from the appearance of some tantalising screenshots sneakily popped into the first game), so it’s probably not much of a surprise to see the feature teased in the game’s very first trailer – a cinematic in which a diver meets up with a team mate in the depths of an alien ocean, before a enormous creature makes its presence known.