Subnautica 2 Hits Xbox Game Preview May 14

Unknown Worlds’ Subnautica 2 will enter Xbox Game Preview on May 14, launching on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC and arriving day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

The sequel to the 2018 survival title takes players to a new alien ocean world. As a member of the CICADA colony ship’s crew, players must help establish a settlement after the voyage goes wrong and support tens of thousands of passengers stranded on the planet.

The game is designed as a single-player experience that can be joined online by up to three friends in optional cooperative play. Multiplayer integrates with the Xbox friends list to allow quick joining, and players can invite friends on other platforms through the in-game menu.

Sverrir Berg, Platform and Infrastructure Team Lead, noted that multiplayer was one of the most requested features and emphasized the friends-list integration for fast session joins. Programmer Sam Dark added that inviting cross-platform friends is handled through the game’s menu.

The development team used Unreal Insights to analyze performance on Xbox and focused optimization work on the console as a fixed platform, Core Tech Lead Snorri Sturluson explained. The studio also prioritized controller support and treated the Xbox controller as a primary input method.

Support for the ROG Xbox Ally was implemented early in development. Senior QA Analyst Rob Hamiter described a default ROG Ally graphics preset and the option for players to adjust settings for performance or visual quality. He called the handheld’s analog controls “buttery smooth” and noted that button mappings were arranged for intuitive control.

The Game Preview build includes exploration tools such as the Tadpole submersible, base construction and customization, and a progression of upgrades and vehicles intended to push players into deeper environments. Unknown Worlds plans to add additional biomes, creatures and craftable items and to expand the narrative over the course of Early Access.

Unknown Worlds said player feedback will be used to guide development and encouraged players to join its community channels to report bugs and suggest changes.

Unknown Worlds, the studio behind Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero, began as the team behind the Half-Life mod Natural Selection and now operates as a distributed studio with staff across several countries. The publisher cautions that Subnautica 2 is a work in progress and may change during Early Access.