The Leviathans will stay. You’ll just have to live with and survive it, it seems.
Subnautica 2 developers at Unknown Worlds have doubled down on the series’ non-violent approach, even as parts of the community continue pushing for weapons and combat options in the upcoming survival game.
Speaking during an early press briefing reported by Eurogamer, lead game designer Anthony Gallegos and media lead Scott MacDonald discussed the studio’s focus on environmental cohabitation, creature behaviour, and avoiding direct violence against wildlife.
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
Why does Subnautica 2 not let players kill creatures?
Gallegos explained that the studio’s stance against violence has been a core part of the franchise for years.
“The studio started with the Natural Selections series, but when the Sandy Hook shooting happened in the United States, one of the studio founders Charlie Cleveland wanted to create a game that didn't push violence. It's a core tenant of the Subnautica franchise.”
He added that the team wants players to “feel they're learning to adapt to the world, rather than being a conqueror or dominator”, while also acknowledging that the game’s setting could make players expect some form of self-defence.
According to Gallegos, the focus instead is on deterring creatures and avoiding dangerous encounters rather than killing enemies outright. “One of the things that always bothered me is that Subnautica 1 players would enter an area and try to figure out ‘how am I going to kill this Leviathan so I don't have to deal with it anymore’,” Gallegos said. “It removes the tension of the region.”
MacDonald also said the team is adding mechanics designed around distraction and avoidance tools instead of weapons. One of the ways Subnautica 2 reflects those themes is through “bloom”, an infection that spreads through wildlife and plant life.
Gallegos explained that one of the player’s main goals will be learning how to cure bloom infestations. Areas affected by bloom will feature muted water colours and more aggressive creatures, though the developers stressed those creatures are not inherently “bad”. He also acknowledged that the studio expects resistance from some players over the no-violence direction. “I think it's a point of resistance that we'll get repeatedly while making the game, though we feel strongly about it,” Gallegos said.
He added that the team still wants to listen to feedback from players who feel unable to defend themselves in certain areas, while continuing to explore non-violent solutions. Gallegos also revealed that early feedback sessions included players from one unnamed country who “overwhelmingly wanted to manufacture weapons.”
According to them, they felt like “people got a totally different vibe out of the original Subnautica than a weapon manufacturing video game. Discussion around the game’s lack of violence intensified after comments shared from the game’s official Discord server.
Replying to a fan asking why players cannot kill creatures in the game, one level designer responded: “We aren't a killing game. Go play Sons of the Forest or something if you want to kill.”
Subnautica 2 community split over “go play other games” comment
The response sparked debate across Reddit, where some players criticised the comment and questioned the studio’s handling of feedback. An entire thread accused the developers of “hypocrisy”, arguing that “professionalism matters.”
“It feels incredibly hypocritical to launch an Early Access game, explicitly ask for player feedback, and then shut down valid criticism with a ‘go play another game’ attitude,” Thread owner VicLeShlag said. They also added that “saying ‘go play Sons of the Forest or something’ is just disrespectful,” sharing that a simple “We hear your feedback, we'll discuss it internally" would have been okay. “Even if the answer is ‘no,’ providing actual, reasoned arguments would go a long way compared to dismissing the community.”
Not everyone agreed on this take, however. Redditor Saelora pointed out that “’We want your feedback’ is not the same thing as ‘we will cave to every request you make.’” This comment then sparked an entire debate on how the feedback should have been handled.
Shot_specific_8505 said that there was a “Big difference between ‘We want to change the game entirely’ and ‘Maybe making it so fishes react and get hurt by being hit with an axe.’"
Others, like angrylittledev, pointed out that the killing mechanic was available in the previous game, so they were wondering why the devs are being “obtuse and daft about it.”
“I really think people are desperately reaching to get upset over that Sons of the Forest comment in order to use it as leverage to get what they want,” ErsatzNihilist said, with some like stunna006 agreeing, pointing out that this could be the “vocal minority” who want the killing mechanic.
On top of that, many others, like Strixzora, didn’t exactly want to kill the creatures in the game, but hoped for more deterrents in the future instead.
However, based on the interviews and response of the dev team to the request for a killing mechanic to be added, it seems like Unknown Worlds could be set on sticking with this direction.
“This was a core decision the game apparently made they dont want to go away from,” Impact_Typical pointed out. “[Early Access] does not mean ‘Do everything the community wants’. Instead EA means build it together, but they obviously won't back away from such a big decision they made.”
