Subnautica 2

In Subnautica 2 you build bases with the Habitat Builder, a tool unlocked by scanning two fragments at the Welcome Center near the Lifepod. Rooms, corridors, hatches and a Moonpool cost mostly Titanium, and a base needs power before its hatch supplies oxygen.

Subnautica 2 bases run on Solar Panels (1 to 8 energy per second by time of day), Hydroelectric Turbines in water currents, Thermal Plants by heat vents and Bioreactors burning fuel, linked by Power Transmitters and buffered by Power Storage. Without power a base makes no oxygen.

The guides' best base spots in Subnautica 2 are a plateau by a water current about 200 m east of the Lifepod for free turbine power, the thermal vents about 630 m east for steady Thermal Plant power, and an outpost near the Alien Ruins about 1,150 m east for the late game.

Farming in Subnautica 2 means Growbeds, built for Titanium x1, that grow plants from a seed item such as a Pent, Lucifer Rotsac or Fibrous Pulp, and since update 1.2 Necrolei Cysts. The Metal Farm, an Axum machine, grows a chosen resource on base power.

The Anemone Hills are Subnautica 2's biome of towering pink-and-green anemones about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, 0 to 151 m deep, where the infected Heat Tolerance Angel Comb waits behind Bloom you clear with the Sonic Resonator.

Coral Gardens and North Coral Gardens are Unknown Worlds' names for Subnautica 2's early coral areas around the Lifepod; update 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026) put a second Biolab and more Silver there, and 1.2 gave North Coral Gardens its own music.

The Dolerite Spires are a maze of jagged volcanic pillars in Subnautica 2's starting region, shallow to mid depth, with Lithium and Titanium, Quaker's Meetinghouse and two Spires wrecks that All Things How lists for the High Capacity Air Tank and the Rebreather on the launch build.

The Graveyard is Subnautica 2's hot, orange-watered biome, 0 to 266 m deep, that needs the Heat Tolerance Adaptation; it holds Gold, Salt, Sulfur and Lithium, the Tadpole Pens, Tailings Village, a Cicada Wreck, Nahema's Lab and hundreds of Water Slugs.

The Axum Metal Farms are the far eastern edge of Subnautica 2's Early Access map, about 2,000 to 2,200 m east-northeast of the Lifepod beside the Karakorum Power Plant, the only source of Troilite and Atacamite and where you find the Axum Bacterial Culture to build a Metal Farm of your own.

The Necrolei Hills are Subnautica 2's infected hills about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, the main source of Necrolei Cysts for Strong Acid, with Copper, Titanium, Deepwing Egg Clumps and fauna mutated by the Bloom.

Observatory Island is Subnautica 2's Axum tower rising out of the sea about 1,000 to 1,200 m east of the Lifepod, with the Alien Ruins (Unknown Worlds' Axum Ruins), the Rosetta Stone, a Biolab since 1.1 and the Axum Observatory, where the Early Access story stops.

The Plateaus are Subnautica 2's rocky biome about 300 m northeast of the Lifepod, 23 to 119 m deep by All Things How's count, with Camp One, the Old Habitat and the caves that hold the early Silver; the sandy Lead Zone lies nearby.

Root Canyon is Subnautica 2's deepest explorable biome, a pitch-black canyon 365 to 750 m deep in the far east, with root-like walls, the Control Room, Tech Sites, Blight Nodes, a Cold Zone, colonist Dive Elevators and the Axum Metal Farms; the Collector Leviathan patrols its lower reaches.

The Shallows are Subnautica 2's starting biome, the bright coral reefs around the Lifepod, 3 to 224 m deep by All Things How's count, with the Welcome Center about 85 m southeast, the first Angel Comb, Quartz-filled Coral Domes and caves of Copper and Titanium below.

The Tar Cascades, in the area Unknown Worlds calls the Sparse Plains, are Subnautica 2's dark, tar-coated crossing about 700 m east of the Lifepod, 0 to 250 m deep, where the Collector Leviathan guards the way to the Axum ruins; cross low along the bottom in a Tadpole.

The Tufa Zone, which guides call Tufa Towers, is the biome of tall rock towers about 400 m south of Subnautica 2's Lifepod, home of the Great Jaw clam and its Lithium; it and the Thermal Area got their own music in update 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026).

In Subnautica 2 most blueprints are learned by scanning fragments with the Scanner, some in one scan and many in two or three; others unlock on picking up a material, from recipe data cards, or are known from the start. The Bioscanner, a Scanner upgraded at the Modification Station, is needed to scan creatures for Biomods. This page lists the key blueprint locations on the launch build, with the guides' conflicts.

Subnautica 2's recipes by station, as listed by Destructoid on May 16, 2026 (the Early Access launch build) with conflicts from other guides beside them, for example Titanium Ingot (Titanium x3 at the Processor), Wiring Kit (Silver x1, Copper Wire x1) and Basic Battery (Copper x2, Acidic Raion Pouch x1). Hotfix 3 cut Interior Wall cost to a quarter, and no guide has republished a full list since updates 1.1 and 1.2.

Subnautica 2's wearable equipment is three air tanks (Standard, High Capacity, Ultra High Capacity), Basic and Improved Fins and the Rebreather, all made at the Fabricator, while carrying space grows at seven Upgrade Biobeds (five add 3 inventory slots each, two add a quickbar slot). The Standard Air Tank and Basic Fins are known from the start; the others are scanned or crafted from them.

In Subnautica 2 the Lifepod's Fabricator is damaged and cannot be fixed, so recipes marked "Requires Fully Functional Fabricator" need a new Fabricator built in a powered base (Titanium, Copper and Quartz, one each). Ingots come from the Processor, whose blueprint is scanned from a broken Processor in an abandoned base north of the Lifepod and which draws 10 energy per second.

In Subnautica 2, Lead lies on the seafloor northeast of the Lifepod at about 60 m deep, below a Cicada Wreck, though guides disagree on the distance (about 254 m or about 340 m). It is needed for the Sonic Resonator, Germanium Ingots and Sugar of Saturn.

Subnautica 2's resources run from Titanium, Copper and Quartz around the Lifepod, through Silver and Lead to the north and northeast and Gold, Sulfur and Lithium in the hot volcanic area, to Celestine, Conduit Crystal, Troilite and Atacamite in the far east. This page lists each one with where guides found it on the launch build, the tool it needs and what it makes.

In Subnautica 2, Silver is found in shallow caves north of the Lifepod, marked by orange Pent plants at the cave mouths, and Unknown Worlds added more Silver to the early game region in Hotfix 2 and in Coral Gardens in update 1.1. It makes the Standard Air Tank, Wiring Kits, the Wakemaker and Silver Ingots.

Subnautica 2's tools are the Survival Multitool, Scanner, Flashlight, Habitat Builder, Sonic Resonator, Wakemaker, Repair Tool, Air Bladder, Distraction Flare and, since update 1.2, the Tracking Tag, plus two Prototype Tool Modifications made at the Modification Station, the Bioscanner and the Feedback Resonator. There are no weapons. This page gives each tool's recipe, blueprint and use.

In Subnautica 2, Troilite is a late-game resource broken out of green Mineralized Clinkers with the Sonic Resonator around the green pools of the Axum Metal Farms, far east of the Alien Ruins and below about 400 m, with a Collector Leviathan nearby. Hotfix 2 added more Troilite areas, and it makes Mangalloy Ingots, the Ultra High Capacity Air Tank and the Depth Module Mk. 2.

The Collector Leviathan is Subnautica 2's giant squid, found in the trench about 700 m east of the Lifepod past the hot Graveyard waters; it cannot be killed, so you cross its trench low along the bottom in a Tadpole. Scanning it teaches the Sonic Echo Biomod.

Subnautica 2's Early Access ocean holds about three dozen named creatures, from harmless Water Slugs to four Leviathans; none can be killed with a weapon, scanning them unlocks Biomods, and Early Access 2 in December 2026 adds new and returning creatures.

Subnautica 2's dangerous creatures below Leviathan size are the Marrowbreach, Hammerhead, Nibbler Mango, Needler Mango, Bullethead, Twin Sitaray, Sandspear, Foureye, Bloom Parasite and Tongue Thief; none can be killed, so you deter them with the Survival Multitool, the Sonic Resonator and flares.

The Deepwing Brooder is Subnautica 2's peaceful Leviathan, a huge winged arthropod that drifts rarely through any biome laying eggs; its Deepwing Egg Clumps are a food ingredient, scannable since update 1.2, and fans designed it in the #LeviathanAwakens contest before launch.

The Great Jaw is Subnautica 2's giant clam Leviathan, about 350 m from the Lifepod at heading 195; it opens as you approach and snaps shut if you touch the red fibers in its core, and the lithium nodules it expels make it a lithium farm. Since update 1.2 you cannot build a base inside it.

Subnautica 2 has four Leviathans in Early Access as of Nov 4, 2026: the Collector Leviathan, the Shiver Leviathan, the Great Jaw and the Deepwing Brooder. Only the Collector hunts you inside the play area, and Early Access 2 in December 2026 makes it scarier.

The Shiver Leviathan guards the edge of Subnautica 2's Early Access map in groups and kills instantly once you cross the red striped border; swim back inside the border and it stops chasing you.

The first hours of Subnautica 2 in order, from editorial guides on the Early Access launch build: make Water from Water Slugs, craft the Survival Multitool and Scanner, power the Welcome Center's Biolab, take the Digestion Adaptation, make Fins and a Standard Air Tank, then build a base with a Fabricator and Processor, the Sonic Resonator and the Tadpole. Tips for oxygen, inventory, creatures and co-op follow.

Subnautica 2 has no official mod support as of Nov 4, 2026, but PC players run community mods, most through the UE4SS loader, such as Comfort Tweaks and Killable Creatures; Unknown Worlds asks players to disable mods before every update.

Subnautica 2 has had a FOV slider since update 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026), Proximity Voice Chat settings since 1.2, DLSS 4.5 with Frame Generation up to 6x, 11 languages on Steam, and 19 accessibility features by Xbox's count.

Subnautica 2's Early Access story runs from the Lifepod and the Welcome Center through the Digestion and Heat Tolerance Angel Combs, the Tadpole Pens and the Collector Leviathan's trench to the Axum ruins, Axum Vision, the Power Plant and the Observatory, where it stops as of Nov 4, 2026; there is no ending yet.

Subnautica 2 can be played solo or in online co-op for up to four players (a host and three friends), with cross-play between Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox through friend codes. The world lives in the host's save, and there are no dedicated servers.

Subnautica 2 is Unknown Worlds' underwater survival game, in Early Access since May 14, 2026 on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store) and Xbox Series X|S, for one player or up to four in co-op. Its next big update, Early Access 2, is due in December 2026, and the full 1.0 release is about 2 to 3 years out.

Subnautica 2 came out in Early Access on May 14, 2026 at 08:00 PDT (15:00 UTC) on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox, after a delay from 2025. The next big update, Early Access 2, is due in December 2026.

The Subnautica 2 lawsuit was a dispute between Krafton and Unknown Worlds' former leaders over a $250 million earnout tied to the game. A Delaware court reinstated CEO Ted Gill in March 2026, and the two sides settled on Jul 1, 2026.

Subnautica 2 is on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox PC) and Xbox Series X|S, with Xbox Cloud Gaming and handhelds, and cross-play between all of them. No PS5, Switch 2 or Mac version is announced as of Nov 4, 2026.

Subnautica 2 costs $29.99 in Early Access on Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox, and it is included in PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate. Steam also sells a Sub-Sonic Edition with the soundtrack; there are no microtransactions, and the price will rise after Early Access.

Subnautica 2's Early Access reviews are mostly positive, around 8 out of 10 from outlets such as Gamereactor and Gfinity, but Metacritic shows no score ("tbd") because it is in Early Access. Steam users rate it Very Positive, 93% of 73,222 reviews on Nov 4, 2026.

Subnautica 2 has no 1.0 release date; Unknown Worlds expects Early Access, which began on May 14, 2026, to last about 2 to 3 years. Its roadmap delivered a quality-of-life update and a co-op update, with the first big content drop, Early Access 2, due in December 2026.

Subnautica 2 sold 2 million copies within 12 hours of its May 14, 2026 Early Access launch, peaked above 651,000 concurrent players across Steam, Xbox and Epic, and passed 5 million sales within 22 days. Its Steam peak was above 467,000.

Subnautica 2 is Steam Deck Verified and runs at about 30 fps on an automatically chosen low preset; on Xbox it is listed as Handheld Optimized for the ROG Xbox Ally. Update 1.1 fixed handheld menu scrolling and wrong button prompts.

Subnautica 2's minimum PC is an Intel Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 2600 with 12 GB of RAM and a GTX 1660 or RX 5500 XT for 1080p Low at 30 fps; the recommended PC is a Core i7-13700 or Ryzen 7 7700X, 16 GB and an RTX 3070 or RX 6700 XT. It needs 50 GB, DirectX 12 and Windows 10 or 11.

Subnautica 2's characters are your silent Pioneer (six playable looks since update 1.2 added Jegna and Grace), NOA, the Cicada's Noetic Advisor AI, a second AI voice, and the vanished colonists heard only in blackbox recordings, such as Anita, Chap, Wander, Ruby, Quaker, Sophie, Nahema, Wu, Singh and Zip.

In Subnautica 2 you are a Pioneer on Alterra's colony ship Cicada, carrying 40,000 people away from a war-torn home, when something goes wrong and you wake on an alien ocean world where an earlier wave of colonists has vanished. The story is unfinished in Early Access as of Nov 4, 2026; its next chapter comes with Early Access 2 in December 2026.

The Axum are the alien civilization of Subnautica 2, known only by what they left: ruins, an Observatory tower, a Power Plant, Metal Farms, Gateway Spires and the Rosetta Stone that makes their logograms readable once you gain the Axum Vision Adaptation. Early Access 2 in December 2026 expands their history.

The Bloom is Subnautica 2's infection: biofilm, sap, cankers and parasites that block caves, infect creatures and Angel Combs, and cannot be cleared by hand. You get past it with the Sonic Resonator, and the armored pink cankers need the Feedback Resonator; some places and guides call it the Blight.

Voices from Beyond is Subnautica 2's five-episode audio drama, released by Unknown Worlds from Nov 25, 2025 to Mar 26, 2026, about a young family in a Mongolian settlement as a threat closes in, ending with a distress call from the Cicada.

Subnautica 2 has four Adaptations, permanent body changes taken from Angel Combs, as of Nov 4, 2026. Pressure Tolerance comes in the opening, Digestion from an Angel Comb about 130 to 180 m north-northeast of the Lifepod, Heat Tolerance from an infected Angel Comb about 200 m northwest once the Sonic Resonator clears it, and Axum Vision from an Angel Comb about 1,800 m east.

Subnautica 2's Biomods are swappable abilities chosen at a Biolab, 5 active and 10 passive on the launch build, four of them known from the start and the rest unlocked by scanning creatures with the Bioscanner. Update 1.1 added two Biolabs and passive slots earned by scan counts, and Early Access 2 (December 2026) moves Dash to the Fins and adds new Biomods.

When you die in Subnautica 2 you are reprinted at the last Biobed you set as your respawn point, with full stats. What you carried stays where you died in a small yellow container, its black box, which you must swim back to; carrying a Tracking Tag extends its signal.

Subnautica 2 has two game modes, Survival and Creative, chosen when a save is made; Creative removes oxygen, food, water and power limits and unlocks every blueprint, Adaptation and (since update 1.1) Biomod, and there are no difficulty settings as of Nov 4, 2026.

Subnautica 2 tracks four stats, Health, Hunger, Thirst and Oxygen; oxygen starts at about 45 seconds and the Standard Air Tank adds 30. Water is crafted from Water Slugs at the Fabricator (+40 Water), and food is cooked fish and Fabricator meals, safe only after the Digestion Adaptation; until then the Lifepod's Nutrient Blocks are the food.

The Subnautica games in release order are Subnautica (Early Access 2014, full release Jan 23, 2018), Subnautica: Below Zero (Early Access Jan 30, 2019, full release May 14, 2021) and Subnautica 2 (Early Access since May 14, 2026). Subnautica 2 has a self-contained story, so it can be played first.

Unknown Worlds Entertainment makes and publishes Subnautica 2. Founded in San Francisco in 2001 by Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, it made Natural Selection, Subnautica, Subnautica: Below Zero and Moonbreaker, and has been owned by Krafton since 2021.

Adaptive Measures is Subnautica 2's Early Access 1.1 update, released Jul 8, 2026: a quality-of-life patch that added the FOV slider, two more Biolabs and six unlockable Biomods, sprinting on land, wreck puzzles and calmer creature reactions.

Buddy System is Subnautica 2's Early Access 1.2 update, released Aug 19, 2026, the co-op update: Proximity Voice Chat, revives, emotes, item trading, the Tracking Tag and two new characters, Jegna and Grace, followed by hotfixes on Sep 1 and Oct 6.

Unknown Worlds has published Subnautica 2 Dev Vlogs since Apr 24, 2025, seven before launch, then Update Vlogs for 1.1 and 1.2 and the Voyage to Early Access 2 series (Oct 15, Oct 22 and Nov 3, 2026), plus the Waterside Q&A and the May 9, 2026 Pre-Launch Showcase.

Early Access 2 is Subnautica 2's next big content update, due in December 2026 with no day announced. Unknown Worlds promises a new region with several biomes, more of the colonists' and Axum story, new and returning creatures, a scarier Collector Leviathan, new Biomods and the Frog chassis for the Tadpole.

Subnautica 2's Experimental branch is an opt-in Steam beta, launched Aug 12, 2026, that previews upcoming updates shortly before release; join it under Properties, Game Versions & Betas, and expect separate, incompatible saves.

Subnautica 2's common problems in Early Access are start-up crashes on AMD and DirectX 12, DLSS crashes, saves that seem to vanish after a crash, mods breaking after an update and Angel Combs that would not open; most were fixed by patches through Buddy System Hotfix 2 (Oct 6, 2026). This page lists each issue, the patch that fixed it and what to do.

Subnautica 2 got three hotfixes in its first three weeks of Early Access, on May 19, May 22 and Jun 1, 2026, which fixed crashes, calmed Hammerheads, added Silver and Troilite areas and revised the disputed Terms of Service, before Unknown Worlds paused rapid hotfixes on Jun 4.

The latest Subnautica 2 patch is Buddy System Hotfix 2 (Oct 6, 2026), after two content updates, Early Access 1.1 Adaptive Measures (Jul 8) and 1.2 Buddy System (Aug 19), and six hotfixes; Early Access 2 is due in December 2026.

The Tadpole is Subnautica 2's only submersible in Early Access, built at a Vehicle Fabricator on a Moonpool from 2 Titanium Ingots, 1 Glass, 1 System Chip and 1 Power Cell. Its crush depth is 250 m until a Depth Module raises it, and it takes the Scout Ray and Haul chassis.

Subnautica 2's Tadpole docks to a chassis that changes its role: the Scout Ray adds hydrofoil wings for speed, and the Haul adds passenger seats and much more cargo. A third, the "stompy" Frog chassis, arrives with Early Access 2 in December 2026.

Subnautica 2's Tadpole has four upgrade slots for six modules made at the Modification Station: Engine Efficiency, Strike Armor, Cavitation Muffler, Photovoltaic Charger and Depth Modules Mk. 1 and Mk. 2. Mk. 1 raises crush depth from 250 m to 450 m.

Subnautica 2's Early Access map runs from the sunny Shallows around the Lifepod about 2 km east to the Axum Metal Farms, through a dozen biomes gated by depth, heat and oxygen; Unknown Worlds publishes no map, so depths and distances come from guides, and no biome was added in 1.1 or 1.2.

Subnautica 2's Early Access map ends at a striped "Early Access fence", guarded by Shiver Leviathans that kill on contact; beyond it lies out-of-bounds terrain with the giant World Tree, visible on the horizon but not reachable as of Nov 4, 2026, and since 1.2 a Tadpole destroyed out there returns inside the fence.