Credit: Unknown Worlds
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Subnautica 2 roadmap promises sprint, voice chat, new biomes, and more story
May 19, 2026·3 min read
Subnautica 2 has only just opened its new ocean, and Unknown Worlds is already showing players where the dive goes next. The first early access roadmap is here, laying out the improvements which will be coming to the game over the next year.
The roadmap arrives after a huge launch for Subnautica 2, which sold 2 million copies in 12 hours and reached 651,000 concurrent players across platforms. That gives Unknown Worlds a massive audience to listen to from the first build, and the studio is already pointing players toward its in-game feedback tool and Nolt board to help shape future updates.
The first update is aimed at everyday frustrations
The first planned update is focused on quality-of-life changes rather than a big content drop. Players are already spending hours with the core systems, so small problems with movement and exploration can become annoying fast.
EA 1.1 will bring changes to biomods, blight encounters, wrecks, vehicle docking, base fabrication, and the PDA. It will also add more passive biomod slots, improved storage cache, and a sprint function, which has already become one of the most requested basic features.
Those changes may not sound as exciting as a new biome, but they matter. Subnautica 2 is built around long dives, repeated crafting, base work, and careful movement through dangerous water. If those parts feel smoother, the whole game benefits.
Co-op is getting the next major round of fixes
The second update is focused on co-op, which is the biggest change from the earlier Subnautica games. Players can explore alone, but four-player co-op gives the sequel a very different feel, especially when groups are building bases, sharing resources, and pushing into deeper areas together.
EA 1.2 will add voice chat, emotes, player trading, teammate revives, better HUD signals, base-building improvements, and recipe pinning upgrades.
That list speaks directly to how people are playing the game now. Co-op survival needs more than just shared exploration. Players need better ways to communicate, recover from mistakes, and manage resources without fighting the interface.
Bigger world updates are coming later
Unknown Worlds is saving the larger additions for future expansions. Those updates will grow the world with more biomes, creatures, resources, tools, vehicles, submersibles, and story content.
That is where the roadmap starts to feel much bigger. Subnautica games live or die by the thrill of finding something strange below the surface. New areas and creatures are not just extra content. They are the reason players keep diving past the safe zones.
The studio has not attached firm dates to those bigger drops. The roadmap is meant to show direction, not lock every update into a fixed schedule.
Player feedback will shape the next dive
Unknown Worlds is being clear that the roadmap can change. The studio plans to keep rolling out bug fixes, balance changes, optimizations, and other updates while watching feedback from players.
Subnautica 2 now has one of the biggest early access crowds of the year, and that means problems will surface quickly. The next few updates will show how fast Unknown Worlds can turn that launch rush into a better version of the game.
Subnautica 2
Xbox Series X|SPC (Microsoft Windows)
Released
May 14, 2026
Developer
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Publisher
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Systems
Xbox Series X|S
PC (Microsoft Windows)
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