Buddy System Update

0:00 Buddy System is Subnautica 2's Early Access 1.2 update, released Aug 19, 2026, and it is the co-op update: it added Proximity Voice Chat, player revives, emotes, direct item trading, a Tracking Tag and two new characters, Jegna and Grace, along with "a ton of bug fixes". The May 15 roadmap had promised that the second update would bring "requested improvements and additions" for players in co-op, and this was it. Creative Director Anthony Gallegos previewed it in an Update Vlog the day before. Two hotfixes followed: Buddy System Hotfix 1 on Sep 1 (amended Sep 3) and Buddy System Hotfix 2 on Oct 6, 2026, the latest patch as of Nov 4, 2026. See Co-op and Multiplayer for how co-op works overall.

Quick facts

Does Subnautica 2 have proximity chat?

1:02 Yes, since 1.2. Proximity Voice Chat makes other players harder to hear the farther away they are, and it can be set to "always on", "push to talk" or "always off". Unknown Worlds had revised its Privacy Policy in 1.1 to cover how it would process voice data for the feature. Buddy System Hotfix 1 fixed a push-to-talk input problem, and Buddy System Hotfix 2 made voice detection handle local and remote players consistently. In Spyro ZA's Aug 20, 2026 test on the 1.2 build, a voice turned to a walkie-talkie sound with distance, began breaking up at about 190 m and cut out entirely at about 200 m. See Settings and Accessibility.

How do revives work in Subnautica 2?

1:45 Players can now revive each other before reprinting. A revived player keeps their equipment and gets back a small amount of oxygen. A downed player can instead choose to reprint at once at their assigned Biobed. Guides written at launch that say players cannot revive one another are out of date. See Death and Respawning.

Emotes, trading and characters

1:00 Five emotes, Wave, Clap, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and Frustrated, sit in a new radial menu; they work in water or on land and any gameplay input interrupts them. Players can interact with each other to exchange inventory items directly, a feedback request. Character Customization gained two characters, Jegna and Grace, and two new color schemes. Buddy System Hotfix 1 later blocked inventory sharing while riding in a Tadpole, fixed the share pop-up that would not close after driving away, and fixed problems when a player died mid-trade. See Characters.

Tracking Tag

2:21 The Tracking Tag is new equipment: placed in a carryable such as a locker, it works as a short-range beacon, and carried in hand or inventory when reprinting it increases the black box range. Buddy System Hotfix 1 increased the tracker detection radius. See Equipment.

Balance, tools and creatures

Changes from the 1.2 patch notes:

Fixes also stopped the Collector Leviathan spinning 360 degrees when it grabs or throws a Tadpole, releasing a player when the Camouflage Biomod triggered mid-meal, and its shockwave misbehaving in co-op, and let the Shiver Leviathan attack players attached to vehicles. See Tools and Modifications and Creatures.

Base building

5:03 Base Building gained alignment guide lines in its placement UI, better Move mode for co-op clients, size snapping so Shrink can fully deconstruct a room, a list of the items that block a build, and a working trashcan that destroys items one by one after five seconds. Bases can no longer be built inside the Great Jaw. A long run of power fixes landed too: Hydroturbines no longer stop after 120 to 160 minutes, Solar Panels no longer stop after 45 to 60 minutes when several bases exist, bases no longer stay powered when storage runs out, and Metal Farms no longer produce without power or lose it when chained. An exploit that let a swapped resource in a Metal Farm inherit the previous growth time was closed, Algae Blocks and Nutrient Blocks work as BioReactor fuel, and Necrolei Cysts can be planted in Growbeds. In Spyro ZA's Aug 20, 2026 video on the 1.2 build, pieces place freely by default and pressing F snaps them to a green grid. See Base Power and Farming.

Interface, story and sound

2:53 Signals were reworked to clutter the HUD less: icons grow as the player gets closer and distant ones show text on hover. Save Codes can be pasted straight into the Cloud Save Download box, the Builder menu remembers its scroll position, pinned recipes light up when the player picks up a needed resource, and audiologs show elapsed and remaining time. NOA's alerts come less often, previously unlocalized lines are localized, Databank entries were added for the Mod Station and for audiologs that lacked them, and music now plays in the Tufa Zone, Thermal Area and North Coral Gardens. Light poles now connect the Observatory and the Rosetta Stone.

Frame Generation and performance

For RTX 5000 series cards, 1.2 added Frame Generation 5x and 6x and a Dynamic Frame Generation mode that picks a mode by itself. VSync and DLSS Frame Generation can now be on together, Nvidia Reflex has a description in Settings, the volume sliders were reordered, and the F8 Feedback Tool can attach a save file. Fixes covered slowdowns from many Power Transmitters built close together, Graveyard and Water Slug effects "for the players who collect hundreds of Water Slugs", crashes that could make a save look deleted, Steam taking too long to close, and the Steam Overlay not pausing the game. A new Privacy Policy notice from Jul 15 appears on first play. See System Requirements.

Buddy System Hotfix 1 (Sep 1, 2026)

Buddy System Hotfix 1 corrected missing translations in PDA and Databank entries and for Jegna's and Grace's names, refunded items on wall racks properly with "Refund Base", let co-op clients move exterior furniture, cut save bloat, closed exploits that freed players from a creature's grip, improved the Collector Leviathan's pathing in the lower canyon, stopped currents affecting players inside bases, and gave oxygen reliably to players riding on a Tadpole or Haul. Saves now record their build number and branch, so a save cannot load into an older build. An update on Sep 3 fixed in-progress Axum Powerplant Turbines that had disappeared or could not be finished; affected players can complete them at no cost.

Buddy System Hotfix 2 (Oct 6, 2026)

Buddy System Hotfix 2, the latest patch as of Nov 4, 2026, fixed voice chat detection, Tadpoles that could not dock in some orientations or were teleported wrongly when returning from out of bounds, Thermal and Hydroelectric Generators and Hydroelectric Turbines showing wrong power after being streamed out, and the Scanner Station not finding resources accurately. It improved the Leviathan grab attack on Tadpoles, made the Shiver Leviathan ignore unpiloted vehicles, fixed currents in the Overgrown Ruins and an Xbox memory leak, turned VSync off when DLSS Dynamic FrameGen is picked, and re-enabled crash reporting.

Frequently asked questions

When did the Subnautica 2 Buddy System update come out? Subnautica 2's Early Access 1.2 update, Buddy System, came out on Aug 19, 2026, followed by Buddy System Hotfix 1 on Sep 1 and Hotfix 2 on Oct 6, 2026.

Does Subnautica 2 have voice chat? Yes. Since update 1.2 Subnautica 2 has Proximity Voice Chat, set to always on, push to talk or always off, and players far away are harder to hear.

Can you revive friends in Subnautica 2? Yes, since update 1.2. In Subnautica 2 a downed player can be revived before reprinting and keeps their equipment, or can choose to reprint at their Biobed.

Can you trade items in Subnautica 2? Since update 1.2, Subnautica 2 players can interact with each other to hand over inventory items directly, though not while riding in a Tadpole.

Who are Jegna and Grace in Subnautica 2? Jegna and Grace are two character options added to Subnautica 2's Character Customization in update 1.2; the patch notes call them new Pioneers.

What does the Tracking Tag do in Subnautica 2? The Tracking Tag, added in update 1.2, is a short-range beacon placed in a carryable like a locker, and it widens the black box range if carried when reprinting.

Sources

• Subnautica 2 Early Access Roadmap, Unknown Worlds, May 15, 2026
• Update Vlog - Early Access 1.2 (Buddy System), Unknown Worlds, Aug 18, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update, Unknown Worlds, Aug 19, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access Buddy System Hotfix 1, Unknown Worlds, Sep 1, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access Buddy System Hotfix 2, Unknown Worlds, Oct 6, 2026
• Subnautica 2 | Update Vlog: Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System, Subnautica, Aug 18, 2026 (video)
• Subnautica 2 EA 1.2 Buddy System Update Overview + Next Major Update Info, Spyro ZA, Aug 20, 2026 (video)