Subnautica 2s first major Early Access update has officially arrived, and it does more than just add new content. Developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment (UWE) has released the game's first community-driven update while confirming another important milestone: Subnautica 2 has now passed 5 million copies sold less than a month after launching in Early Access.
Selling 5 million copies is an important moment for any game, but it's especially potent for Subnautica 2. After months of legal battles over a $250 million bonus between UWE and publisher Krafton, the latter agreed to a settlement that will pay bonuses to every Unknown Worlds employee, including staff who joined after the studio's acquisition in 2021. Meanwhile, CEO Ted Gill has resigned, saying both sides agreed new leadership was the best way forward, ending the long-running controversy over Subnautica 2.
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Unknown Worlds Entertainment -
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Unknown Worlds says the first Early Access update is based heavily on player feedback, refining several of the game's core systems while expanding exploration and progression. The biggest additions in this Subnautica 2 update are two new Biolabs, Coral Gardens and Axum Ruins, as well as an increase to Biomods from 4 to 6. In addition, players can also unlock new additional passive Biomod slots in Subnautica 2 by scanning creatures with the Bioscanner.
- New Biolabs: Coral gardens and Axum ruins.
- Biomods has increased from 4 to 6.
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Players can now unlock additional passive Biomod slots by scanning creatures with the Bioscanner.
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The update also makes several quality of life improvements, particularly for Subnautica 2s co-op features. Audio logs are no longer automatically played when picked up and can instead be accessed manually via the PDA database, preventing one player's discoveries from interrupting everyone else's sessions, among other things. Elsewhere, Unknown Worlds added more routes and oxygen-based puzzles to wrecks, allowed players to sprint outside of water, improved building placements for several structures, introduced a dedicated storage building, and made further improvements to creature behavior, rendering, and the user interface.
According to Executive Producer Fernando Melo, the team's goal with this update was to improve uptime and strengthen the game's core systems before continuing to expand the experience. He said Unknown Worlds plans to continue development Subnautica 2 alongside its community through Early Access, with player feedback continuing to shape future updates.
What kind of weapon is that?
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Easy (7.5s) Medium (5.0s) Hard (2.5s) Permadeath (2.5s)
The milestone highlights how fast Subnautica 2 has become one of the biggest survival games of 2026. If this first update is any indication, the studio intends to use Early Access exactly as promised – adding meaningful new content while steadily refining nearly every aspect of the survival experience before the game's full release – while ensuring fan feedback is taken into account every step of the way.
- Released
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May 14, 2026
- ESRB
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All 10+ / Language, Fantasy violence
