What does it mean to be a Subnautica game? That’s the question developer Unknown Worlds had to answer when starting work on Subnautica 2, which will be released on May 14 in early access after a messy pre-release period that included a much-talked-about delay.
“I think for us, it was making sure that we had a really cool underwater alien world to explore that had surprises for people,” game design lead Anthony Gallegos told Polygon recently over a video call. “We could set it on the same planet again, but I feel like we’ve started to make that planet maybe not as surprising at this point.”
Though Subnautica 2 has the number two in the title, it’s technically the third game in the series. The original Subnautica was followed up by a spin-off in 2021, Subnautica: Below Zero. To set the upcoming adventure apart from the previous games, Unknown Worlds had to bring something new to the table: In comes co-op. Subnautica 2 will support up to four-player co-operative multiplayer from launch.
“From day one, co-op has been in the game, even from the very earliest builds,” creative media producer Scott MacDonald told Polygon.
Unknown Worlds focused on simultaneously nailing the single-player Subnautica 2 experience while also designing and building everything with co-op in mind. The team would prototype features and once a feature was identified as worth pursuing, they’d immediately make it workable in co-op.
