Subnautica 2 has over five million sales, but its early access journey is still in the initial stages. Update 1.2 marks a big next step when it launches on August 19th, adding several new co-op features and quality-of-life improvements, including proximity voice chat.
As outlined by creative director Anthony Gallegos in a new video, it functions as a local chat option that switches to radio when you split up, before breaking up completely. There are also player emotes, inventory sharing to swap items directly with players, and revives (though it’s on a timer, so act fast if someone goes down).
It also adds two new playable characters, suit colors and the Tracking Tag. This can be held and extends your black box signal across greater distances upon death. But you can also throw it into a locker to serve as a beacon.
And at long last, HUD icons have seen improvements, starting small by default and then scaling up as you get closer to them. No more looking at a large clump of icons together, trying to discern which is which. Aside from pinned recipe improvements and the base-building tool now indicating when you can’t build something, Gallegos teased Update 2.0 with a new vehicle, region and an encounter with the Collector Leviathan.
Stay tuned for Update 1.2’s patch notes tomorrow, and check out our Subnautica 2 review in the meantime.
