Subnautica 2 improvements that are confirmed to be coming

Subnautica 2 was released on Steam through Early Access, giving players another crack at diving into the depths of alien oceans, and it's safe to say that it was a huge success. As an Early Access title, the game still has some work to do before it is shaped into its final form – something the developers are well aware of.

To this end, the team at Unknown Worlds Entertainment has provided a roadmap for future game improvements and content additions. While details of the exact changes haven't been fully revealed, the changes you see below are divided into three categories for future updates:

• Quality of Life Update (EA 1.1)

• Co-op Centric Update (EA 1.2)

• Major Expansion Update (Future)

Subnautica 2 has entered Early Access on PC and is also available on Xbox Game Pass through the Game Preview system. The roadmap doesn't mention any difference between these platforms, so it's reasonable to assume that any changes will apply to all versions of the game.

Quality of life update

These adjustments are aimed at general gameplay flow, making encounters and the systems they touch on more interesting, engaging, or intuitive than their current iterations. These updates are planned for the first Early Access update, EA 1.1.

System Biomod

The current Biomod system v Subnautica 2 is split between active and passive biomods, which are unlocked using the bioscanner on various deep-sea fauna in the Proteus oceans. Active biomods require player input to function properly, but can increase player abilities in various scenarios, with abilities like Sonic Echo highlighting nearby resources and Dash allowing players to move faster. Passive biomods are innate perks that are a bit less engaging, but still offer great benefits, as biomods like water retention double the amount of water taken.

This means that the balance in the usefulness of these abilities is completely out of whack. While some like Dash can completely change the way you interact with the game, others like Dermal Garden are barely useful. Due to the limited availability of Biomod slots, such a difference in utility limits what most players add to their kit.

Unknown Worlds Entertainment is certainly aware of the reception of these mods and how players use them throughout the game, so we hope they find a way to make the smaller options more attractive. Since it's the first item on the plan, it's fair to say it's a priority item.

Blight Meeting

Similar to the Kharaa Bacterium from the first game, the Blight acts as a threat to the player by infecting the planet's ecosystem, making enemies more aggressive and the environment more dangerous. As it stands, these encounters seem a bit lengthy and almost require the use of specific biomods to progress. The range of encounters is also limited, leaving room for improvement in the variety of encounters players can encounter while exploring the reefs and wrecks.

Ruin the gameplay

The Wreck game will also receive some modifications. It's hard to say what we'll focus on improving here; will they try to make exploring the wrecks more interesting, or will they work on adding more wrecks to the empty spaces between points of interest? Perhaps the game could use a bit of both, or even change the presence of creatures in and around the wrecks.

Docking and production of vehicles

The Vehicle Fabricator is a great tool for crafting new vehicles for use during exploration, but players have been a bit unhappy with the implementation. Subnautica 2 doesn't explain in detail how each tool or item works, so the required size and space needed to place both the moon pool and the maker is discovered by trial and error, and the clever base collision can mean you won't have room to place an item even if it seems like there's plenty of room. The Tadpole Dock has similar issues, with placement being quite specific in terms of space required.

PDA database

It seems easy to guess the direction of the updates since the current PDA data bank is quite limited. Due to the small number of entries currently visible for reading, the addition of new entries greatly advances the world of Subnautica 2.

Many of the current entries are quite long and can range from a few sentences to several paragraphs. These logs provide detailed information about the ecology and behavior of the creature you encounter, and are more than a simple regurgitation of information—they can even veer into philosophical or poetic rhetoric! If future posts are of similar quality, it will be a huge boon to the world of Subnautica 2.

Priority voice recording system

The in-game voiceovers offer some great tidbits of information and characterization, and offer some of the most engaging narrative hooks and mysteries the game has to offer. The voiceovers in Subnautica 2 are also a bit more horror than the first game and lend well to the atmosphere.

However, their location often means blueprints and other items are obtained shortly after starting the journals, and these blueprints have their own voice line that interrupts the voice recording and spoils the flow of the story being told. While it wasn't stated that this is the direction they'll be going, making sure the voiceovers keep playing as you explore and collect will serve the game well.

EA 1.1 Planned Extensions

These are game add-ons that are intended for release in EA 1.1 patch.

More passive Biomod slots

The current Passive Biomod slots are limited to 1 per character, so adding more slots will help alleviate some of the issues we detailed earlier regarding Biomod selection, while also opening up more customization for players.

Storage cache

Storage will be a welcome sight for anyone looking to build their base. With the current workload of gathering resources and crafting individual building materials, limited space can be a little frustrating for a person when trying to juggle all of their needs. Being able to offload excess food, water, and materials will be a huge improvement to game flow.

Sprint

Some bases can become quite large once players fully develop them, making navigation a time-consuming prospect. To make navigation easier, a sprint function has been added, which will speed up the movement from point A to point B while walking.

Co-op Centric Update

Subnautica 2 introduced co-op to its core experience, with players able to join friends in a shared progression game world. Co-op also has some mode-specific inbound adjustments to make playing with friends much more enjoyable. All of them are scheduled to be released via the EA 1.2 patch, which means they will run a bit behind the previously listed updates.

Hud signals

Playing with friends is a great time, but the HUD is a bit lacking during multiplayer. This update will include more HUD signals that make coordination easier and provide information to each other without you having to say them.

Base Builder Tool

Base building is one of the most rewarding aspects of the game, but it can be a bit overwhelming for new players. This list item is a little too vague to say exactly what the tool's features entail, but one would assume it would help with building a base in a co-op environment.

Pinned recipe system

Subnautica 2 has a huge number of crafting recipes, from equipment and tools to food and basic materials. Finding a specific recipe can be time-consuming if you're just going through the menus, but the game has a way to pin recipes so you can track your progress in getting the items you need.

Advanced recipes unfortunately have a lot of materials and pinning multiple recipes really fills the screen. Also, detaching the base and pieces of furniture cannot be done quickly in the same way as other recipes. Solving both of these issues will lead to a smoother gaming experience.

EA 1.2 Planned Extensions

The EA 1.2 update will also come with a number of multiplayer-focused additions such as Voice Chat, Player Trading, Player Revive and more customization options.

General improvements and additions

Amongst all these tweaks and tweaks, the team at Unknown Worlds has also reaffirmed their commitment to continuous improvements in the form of bug fixes, balance tweaks, and optimizations.

Extension updated

Major updates to the expansion are also planned as the Early Access period progresses. While the world of Proteus is already quite large, this new expansion will expand the world by adding new biomes, creatures, resources, tools and vehicles. Story-wise, a new chapter is also in the works. The basis of this is, of course, the feedback from the players Subnautica 2 aims, so using the in-game feedback tool will help guide the direction of the game moving forward.

All of these changes sound like welcome additions and should help Subnautica 2 reach the maximum of its predecessor. That said, the roadmaps are subject to change, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for any new revelations or changes to the planned output.