There’s still a lot left unexplored in the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean.
Subnautica 2 has barely surfaced from its early access launch, but Unknown Worlds already has its first roadmap lined up for the survival game’s underwater journey.
After diving into early access on 14 May, Subnautica 2 quickly made waves, pulling in hundreds of thousands of players within its opening half hour and reportedly selling one million in its first hour and and selling two million copies in under 12 hours. Now, the developers have shared what is coming next, including quality-of-life improvements, co-op features, and larger world expansions planned for future updates.
The roadmap was published on the official Unknown Worlds website on 15 May, alongside a message from the development team outlining how updates will roll out over the coming months.
“As you all dive into your first thrilling adventures in Subnautica 2, we wanted to share a little bit about our plans for the game over the next few months,” the update said. “Our plan for Subnautica 2 is to ensure we’re providing our community with regular updates. But not all updates will look the same!”
Subnautica 2
Release Date: 14 May, 2026 (Early Access)
Price: US$29.99
Platform: Xbox Series and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and the Microsoft Store
Developer: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
What is included in the Subnautica 2 early access roadmap?
According to Unknown Worlds, the game’s updates “will vary from focused improvements that address systems and smaller features, to hot fixes when needed, and then our larger expansions.” The first major roadmap milestone is the Early Access launch itself, followed by two named updates: EA 1.1 and EA 1.2.
The EA 1.1 update is focused heavily on quality-of-life improvements. Planned changes include updates to the Biomods system, Blight encounters, wreck gameplay, vehicle docking and fabrication, the PDA databank, and the Voicelogs priority system. Unknown Worlds also confirmed several additions for the update, including “more passive biomod slots,” “storage cache,” and “sprint.”
When is the Subnautica 2 co-op update coming?
There has been no release date yet on early access roadmap, including the Subnautica 2 co-op update. However, players can expect that roadmap’s EA 1.2 update is centred around co-op improvements and multiplayer features. Planned improvements include HUD signals, the base builder tool, and the pinned recipes system. On top of that, the update is expected to add voice chat, emotes, player trading, player revive, and additional customisations.
Future Subnautica 2 updates will expand the world and story
Beyond the first two updates, Unknown Worlds also teased larger expansion updates planned further down the line. The roadmap mentions a “new region” alongside plans to “expand the world” with new biomes, creatures, resources, tools, and vehicles. The studio also confirmed that future updates will continue “the next chapter of the story.”
Unknown Worlds said it is planning “the next big drop that expands on the world, biomes, creatures, resources, tools, vehicles, and brings you the next chapter of the story,” while smaller improvement patches arrive in between larger content updates. The studio also reiterated that community feedback will play a major role throughout development.
“This roadmap is subject to change or adjustment,” the developers wrote. “We want to hear from you, our community, on what we should be looking at while we develop Subnautica 2. Community input is key to shaping the game throughout Early Access!” Players can submit feedback through the game’s in-game feedback tool and the studio’s Nolt suggestion board, where community ideas can be upvoted for future consideration. Unknown Worlds added that it will continue rolling out “bug fixes, balance tuning, optimizations, and other related updates throughout Early Access” as development continues.
With new creatures, vehicles, and unexplored regions already on the horizon, it sounds like players will be descending even deeper below the surface in future updates.
