It hasn’t even been a week of early access for Unknown Worlds’ Subnautica 2, and it’s already a massive success. After announcing two million sales in 12 hours, the underwater survival crafting title has crossed four million in five days, according to the developer.
Executive producer Fernando Melo said in a press release, “We’re incredibly grateful for the response from players around the world. Seeing millions of players dive into this new world during Early Access has been an incredible moment for the team. Community feedback continues to help shape the future of Subnautica 2, and we’re excited to keep building the experience together with our players.”
Of course, it’s also available on Game Pass via Game Preview for Xbox Series X/S and PC, so the total number of players could be even higher. On Steam alone, Subnautica 2’s lifetime peak concurrent player count has utterly demolished the original, standing at 467,582. While the numbers have certainly dropped since then, a 24-hour peak of 141,718 concurrent players is still impressive.
The only downside to all this, at least for fans, is that this is only the beginning of a long early access period. Unknown Worlds estimates that at least two years before 1.0 is ready, though plans can and will change. Just recently, it acknowledged complaints about being unable to kill the various hostile fish roaming the seas of Proteus.
Don’t expect weapons anytime soon, but it is working to balance creature behavior and improve player mitigation tools to ensure less frustrating interactions. How these will fit into the existing roadmap remains to be seen, so stay tuned. In the meantime, check out our thoughts on the early access version.
