Subnautica 2 has been one of our most highly-anticipated Xbox Game Pass releases of 2025 for quite some time now, but unfortunately that date's been pushed back to 2026 - despite a claim that it's ready to go for early access.
Publisher Krafton has confirmed the delay, stating that it owes players "nothing less than the best possible game" and the decision is based around feedback from early tests and a general intent to improve the sequel's quality.
"We got some great feedback about Subnautica 2 during those playtests. The community was responding well to the environment, creatures, and story, and felt positive about the general direction of the game. It gave us a great indication that we’re swimming in the right direction."
"It also provided some insight that there are a few areas where we needed to improve before launching the first version of Subnautica 2 to the world. Our community is at the heart of how we develop, so we want to give ourselves a little extra time to respond to more of that feedback before releasing the game into Early Access."
This follows a big change at Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds earlier this month, with CEO Ted Gill, co-founder and creative director Charlie Cleveland, and co-founder and CTO Max McGuire all leaving the studio. Former Striking Distance (The Callisto Protocol) CEO Steve Papoutsis was brought into the team at the same time.
Charlie Cleveland ended up sharing a statement soon afterwards explaining that "the events of this week have been quite a shock", while also insisting that "we know that the game is ready for early access release and we know you’re ready to play it".
"We know that the game is ready for early access release and we know you’re ready to play it. And while we thought this was going to be our decision to make, at least for now, that decision is in Krafton’s hands. And after all these years, to find that I’m no longer able to work at the company I started stings."
The publisher has also since addressed a report from Bloomberg mentioning that the delay may make a potential $250 million bonus "unlikely" to be achieved by the development team, although Krafton says it has nothing to do with that and the delay was not influenced by "any contractual or financial considerations".
To ease the blow of a delay until 2026, we do at least have some new footage! You can check that out in the video at the top of the article, and here's hoping early access will be along in early 2026 rather than later in the year.