Unknown Worlds Releases Surprise Updates for Subnautica and Below Zero

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On August 12th, I was stoked to discover that Unknown Worlds dropped some fresh updates for my favorite underwater adventures – Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero! These patches squashed a bunch of pesky bugs that were causing me some trouble. But what really got my controller buzzing was the August 12th update for the original Subnautica game. Now, I can dive into the deep sea without a keyboard in sight on Steam and Epic Games Store versions!

The latest developments unfolded during a period of heated debate surrounding the Subnautica series. Following the dismissal of Unknown Worlds’ former leadership, consisting of co-founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, the ex-team members initiated a legal action against Krafton. The lawsuit alleged that Krafton intentionally postponed the release of Subnautica 2 until 2026 to evade paying Unknown Worlds a $250 million bonus if certain milestones were reached by 2025. On August 12, Krafton delivered an official rebuttal to Unknown Worlds’ lawsuit in a Delaware court.

Despite the ongoing legal battle between Kraftron and the former employees of Unknown Worlds, the team behind Subnautica has rolled out two new updates for players. Notably, the August updates offer enhanced controller support for the initial PC version of Subnautica. This upgrade is applicable to the games on Steam and Epic Games Store platforms, allowing players with Windows PCs to use compatible controllers such as the PS5 DualSense and Xbox Wireless Controllers. The addition of controller support in Subnautica was facilitated by a Unity input update, following Unknown Worlds’ transition from an older version to a more recent one. In both wired and wireless modes, supported controllers can be utilized within the PC version of Subnautica. Furthermore, the August 12 content patch also incorporated some bug fixes that previously caused the game to freeze up.

In relation to the August 12 update for Subnautica: Below Zero, several improvements were made to the Snowfox land vehicle, particularly addressing issues with its collision detection and orientation upon deployment. Furthermore, a new in-game news feed was incorporated into both games, allowing Unknown Worlds or Krafton to issue important announcements directly within the game. However, it’s worth noting that the Nintendo Switch versions of Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero did not receive this update yet, but Unknown Worlds confirmed that further updates for the Nintendo platform are still in progress.

Despite the fact that the release of Subnautica 2 has been postponed until 2026, Unknown Worlds continues to offer updates for the initial two installments in the Subnautica collection, suggesting that more improvements may be on the way.

Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero Patch Notes (August 12, 2025)

Subnautica

PC and Console

  • Added a pop-up newsfeed that can be used for one-time-only announcements.
  • Fixed an issue where passing through the Alien Arch portals (e.g. in the Primary Containment Facility) in your PRAWN suit freezes stats like oxygen or hunger, if you exited the suit.
  • Fixed the PRAWN suit sometimes falling through the map or getting stuck when the player returns from an Alien Arch portal.
  • Fixed Leviathans having a tendency to fly above the ocean surface when grabbing the Seamoth or PRAWN suit in certain cases.
  • Fixed having a permanent player view rotation offset upon respawning, if the player died while piloting the Scanner Room Camera Drone.
  • Fixed the game freezing if a player managed to construct a SeaBase piece inside of the Cyclops. It is now recognized as an obstacle for base building.
  • Fixed a bug where the Repulsion Cannon could displace objects built inside the Cyclops, causing them to fall outside of it and sometimes disappearing into the sea floor.

PC Only (Excluding Windows Store)

  • Changed from legacy Unity input to the new “com.unity.inputsystem” to accommodate controller improvements.
  • Fixed a bunch of controller related issues.
    • Reworked input options.
    • Various InputSystem related fixes and performance optimizations.
    • The game now properly supports the following controllers in both wired and wireless modes: Xbox 360, Xbox Series, PS4, PS5, PS5 Edge, Nintendo Switch Pro.
  • Changed to the new Unity Sprite Atlas packer (backport from Below Zero).
  • Changed from baked InputSymbols.ttf to SDF sprites for displaying inline control icons in text.
    • Updated control icons.
    • Fixed game falling back to text representation of controls instead of control icons for some input bindings when no controller is connected.
  • Fixed navigation icons in PDA and Builder Menu not updating bindings dynamically when they change (e.g. when controller type changes).
  • Fixed an issue where the user cannot toggle the ‘auto move’ setting to On while cycling through Cyclops’ cameras.
  • Made Cyclops steering wheel animations gamepad-friendly.

Subnautica: Below Zero

PC and Console

  • Added a pop-up newsfeed that can be used for one-time-only announcements.
  • Fixed a rare bug that would stop the game world from streaming in and make the game unresponsive when attempting to save in some cases.
  • Fixed the Ice Worm always damaging the Vehicle/Snowfox/Player from any distance.
  • Changed the chance of knocking the player off of the Snowfox when taking damage from the Ice Worm from 100% to 25% to make the encounter less frustrating..
  • Changed the Snowfox’s collider to make it less annoying to drive by, greatly reducing the amount it can get stuck on obstacles and props.
  • Changed the orientation of the Snowfox when deployed to now properly face the same direction as the player to make it easier to mount in a hurry.
  • Changed the Snowfox’s damage from terrain impact from 100% to 12%, to not need as many repairs from just driving.
  • Fixed when the Ice Worm pushed the Snowfox it would only trigger a cooldown to the physical push but not damage and knock off.
  • Fixed the Snowfox occasionally falling inside the terrain and disappearing forever when deploying it.
  • Fixed the “lightning flashes” accessibility option preventing the Repair Tool from using power when it was unchecked.
  • Changed the main menu on all platforms by removing the merchandise store banner.
  • Fixed the texture filter quality to use Bilinear for some sprites on the Blueprints PDA tab.

Console (and Windows Store) Only

  • Fixed the screen filling with text while using “assign quick slot” on any item if Chinese (Simplified) language is chosen.

PC Only (Excluding Windows Store)

  • Fixed gamepad selection indicator being visible after switching from gamepad to keyboard and mouse.

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2025-08-14 02:27