How Subnautica 2 Will Make the Ocean Feel Alive

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With the early access launch of Subnautica 2 on May 14th approaching, it’s a good time to remember how much variety the first game offered within a single ocean. The most memorable experiences could vary greatly – from cautiously navigating the immense pressure and darkness of the deep sea, to swimming alongside bizarre creatures in vibrant coral reefs. What truly made it special was the feeling that the world existed independently of the player, and capturing that same atmosphere in the sequel – without just repeating the original – is a significant challenge. Luckily, the developers at Unknown Worlds have been working for years to create the tools needed to make Subnautica 2 feel just as alive.

TopMob interviewed Anthony Gallegos and Scott MacDonald about the technology and design choices behind Subnautica 2. They discussed how new rendering techniques will create more realistic and vibrant underwater worlds, and a story structure intended to surprise even players familiar with the original game. The team aims to not only equal the success of the first Subnautica, but to make the new ocean planet feel even more immersive and alive.

The Technology Making the Deep Blue Sea Look Different

The upcoming game, Subnautica 2, is being created using Unreal Engine 5. While many games will be using this engine by 2026, Unknown Worlds is utilizing it in a particularly noteworthy way. According to Gallegos, the most significant visual improvement in the sequel comes from Lumen, Unreal Engine 5’s system for realistically simulating how light and reflections work within the game’s environments, all in real time.

I still find both Subnautica and Below Zero visually impressive, but the lighting in Subnautica 2 is particularly striking.

Creating the game is thrilling, but challenging. The team has focused on achieving high visual quality while ensuring it runs smoothly on a variety of computers. According to developer Gallegos, they regularly check Steam hardware surveys to make sure Subnautica 2 is playable on the machines most people own, especially considering the current economic situation. This focus on accessibility is great to see, and suggests the sequel will build on the impressive visuals of the original game.

One of the most impressive visual improvements isn’t actually built into Unreal Engine 5. The developer, MacDonald, highlighted a plugin called Mesh Blend, created by Tor Lurvik. This plugin smoothly connects different elements like rocks, walls, and plants in real-time, using the computer’s graphics card. This will make the environments in Subnautica 2 feel like one continuous space, instead of appearing pieced together.

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Traditionally, creating realistic environments often involves simply combining digital shapes and hoping for the best, often resulting in noticeable flaws like rocks appearing to intersect with grass, as MacDonald described. However, this new plugin creates a much more natural and seamless look. It also has a minimal impact on game performance. MacDonald believes Subnautica 2 might be one of the first games to utilize this technology, and its demonstration in Unknown Worlds’ development updates has already sparked interest from other game developers.

Interestingly, Lurvik is also one of the select group testing Subnautica 2 before its release. While it might seem minor, this highlights the strong community Unknown Worlds cultivates around its games. In addition to other new features, Subnautica 2 will use procedural generation in a practical way. The developers aren’t using it to create the overall world, but to automatically add smaller details – like rocks, pebbles, and grass – which previously had to be placed manually.

Subnautica 2 On Player Input and UI

One of the strengths of Subnautica has always been its user interface, or rather, how little it intrudes on the experience. The original game prioritized a clean, almost invisible interface, and Subnautica 2 is continuing that approach. Interestingly, the development of this UI has been heavily influenced by player feedback. According to Gallegos, this is an ongoing process that players can follow by reviewing the game’s development logs and observing how the interface has changed over time.

One moment in particular stuck with him: the placement of the survival trait indicators:

I was surprised by how much attention that detail received. People immediately noticed it was in the top left corner and didn’t hesitate to say they disliked it. But their feedback was really helpful, and we quickly moved it to the bottom left. We’re still aiming for a simple, clean design that doesn’t get in the way.

It may seem minor, but this highlights a key part of Unknown Worlds’ approach to user interface design. They don’t aim for simplicity just to be minimal; instead, every element on the screen must be truly necessary. They believe that any space taken up by the UI means less of the ocean is visible to the player. The only exceptions are important story elements like logs or discoveries, and even those are designed to briefly appear at the screen’s edge before fading away.

What Subnautica 2’s Ocean Is Hiding

No matter how much the technology improves in Subnautica 2, its success will probably depend on whether it can still surprise players, just like the first game did. The developers at Unknown Worlds fondly remember that people loved recommending the original Subnautica without giving away too much about it, and they’re actively trying to create that same sense of mystery and encourage word-of-mouth for the sequel.

That foundation was partially built with Voices from Beyond, a prequel video series that MacDonald helped create.

We created Voices from Beyond to share the story leading directly into the start of Subnautica 2. Watching the series will give you a lot of helpful background information, but it isn’t required to enjoy the game. In fact, the final episode of Voices from Beyond subtly foreshadows something you discover right away when you begin playing Subnautica 2.

Neither MacDonald nor Gallegos would reveal the nature of the surprise. However, MacDonald hinted that players might discover the game isn’t set when they initially think it is. While intentionally mysterious, this suggests the sequel, like the critically acclaimed original, will offer a rewarding experience for those who enjoy story-driven survival games.

Gallegos pointed out that this approach is similar to what made the original Subnautica so successful: it cleverly weaves a science fiction story into what seems like a simple survival game at first.

When I first started watching, I honestly thought it was going to be a simple survival story – you know, just collecting resources and trying to stay alive. But it quickly became so much more! The story took some unexpected turns, and I was completely hooked. It really built up in a way that I thought was incredibly effective.

The developers of Subnautica 2 are hoping to follow a similar path as the first game, and they believe writer Seth Dickinson is key to achieving that. Dickinson has deeply considered the biological and emotional changes someone might experience while trying to survive on an alien world. The game’s core idea—originally planned for the first Subnautica—centers around the player character changing and adapting, and while the specific gameplay mechanics for this are still being developed, the overall theme is already established.

I recently got a look at the upcoming early access release of Subnautica 2, launching May 14th, and let me tell you, this ocean feels completely different than the one we explored before. It’s not just more of the same – Unknown Worlds seems to be really pushing boundaries with new technology like Lumen and Mesh Blend, and they’ve clearly put a lot of thought into the realistic challenges of surviving in an alien world. It’s too early to say if it’ll capture that same quiet, spoiler-free buzz that made the first Subnautica so special, but from what I’ve seen, they’ve absolutely laid the groundwork for something truly impressive.

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2026-04-30 18:48