Subnautica 2 Locks May 14 Early Access Launch — Steam’s Most-Wishlisted Game Sets a Date

Unknown Worlds on May 1, 2026 confirmed that Subnautica 2 will enter Early Access on Wednesday, May 14, 2026 at 08:00 PDT (15:00 UTC), ending months of speculation after the studio teased a release window earlier this spring. The launch will land on Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and Xbox Series X|S at a price point of $29.99 USD. Unknown Worlds will also stage a pre-launch showcase on May 9 to walk through systems, the early-access roadmap and the first content drop window, according to the studio’s announcement on its site and a confirmation push to Steam.

The date matters beyond the studio: Subnautica 2 sits at the very top of Steam’s wishlist chart, ahead of every other unreleased title, per PC Gamer’s tracking of the upcoming-releases dashboard. Players will return to a new alien ocean planet with co-op support for up to four players — a major architectural shift versus the strictly single-player original — plus an expanded crafting tree, more advanced submersibles and a deeper biome system. Unknown Worlds has framed Early Access as a 12-to-18-month iterative development period, in keeping with how the studio shipped the original Subnautica and Below Zero.

May 14 also sits inside one of the busiest console launch windows in years. Forza Horizon 6 arrives May 19 on Xbox and PC, Mixtape drops on May 7, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle hits PS5 on May 12 after its prior Xbox launch, and Street Fighter 6’s Ingrid DLC closes the month on May 28. For PC players in particular, Subnautica 2 is the wishlisted anchor of the slate, and Unknown Worlds’ decision to debut at $29.99 — below the typical $39.99 indie-AAA Early Access price band — is a clear pitch to convert wishlist volume into Day-One revenue.