It’s been quite the journey for Subnautica 2, ‘ey? We’ll refresh ourselves on all that in just a bit, but after confirmation last month that the game would be releasing in May, developer Unknown Worlds have now confirmed a specific date that you’ll be able to pick it up in early access.
As shown off in a slightly uncanny valley cinematic trailer, the underwater survival sim is now set for a May 14th release date, exactly two weeks away. A price point, at least for those who use US dollars, has been confirmed too: $30. Unknown Worlds did specify that there will be regional pricing, and you’ll have to check your own storefront to see what it is. The developer also noted this: “You will only need to buy Subnautica 2 once during Early Access. You’ll get all additions, updates, and hotfixes up to our 1.0 launch and beyond.” No mention of DLC there, but I’m sure that’ll be quite a while away anyway if there are plans for expansions.
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Perhaps also worth pointing out is that the trailer only features Unknown Worlds’ logo – no sign of the logo for Krafton, the former publisher of the game. Earlier this month Krafton were removed from Subnautica 2’s Steam and Epic Games Store pages as publisher, with Unknown Worlds’ name taking their place. In a statement at the time they said that they’re “”currently focused on successfully supporting the Early Access launch of Subnautica 2”, and that they have “nothing further to share at this time”.
In an interview over at PC Gamer, lead gameplay designer Anthony Gallegos outlined some more changes you can expect in the sequel, like the introduction of currents, and some atmospheric lighting tweaks. “”One of the things that people talked about Subnautica and how much they liked it over Below Zero was that Subnautica felt a lot darker,” Gallegos explained. “”The lighting feels much more dynamic. Bioluminescence pops in a way that it didn’t before.”
So, that quick refresher: last July, Krafton ousted three Subnautica 2 leads from the game claiming that these devs were abandoning their duties. This caused the leads to sue Krafton, which then led Unknown Worlds themselves to sue them in return. Months on from this, a judge then ruled the leads be handed control of Unknown Worlds once more, and now here we are with a release date. Much to keep in mind if you’re thinking of picking it up!
