About two years after confirming it was in the works, developer Unknown Worlds has shared a first look at the highly anticipated Subnautica 2 – the underwater survival sequel’s debut trailer has now arrived and it’s been announced that it’s next will go into early access next year.

Subnautica 2 – actually the third game in the acclaimed series, following the original 2018 entry and its 2021 standalone expansion Subnautica: Below Zero – was first announced in April 2022. Some controversy later arose when publisher Krafton incorrectly announced it would be a multiplayer live service game.

Fans were unhappy with this apparent departure from previous entries, and Unknown Worlds (which Krafton acquired in 2021) quickly moved to clear up any confusion – and confirmed this while Subnautica 2 Was Since the multiplayer mode supports co-op for up to four players, there would be “no season passes, no battle passes, no subscription” and co-op is optional.

In fact, the existence of a co-op mode is pretty much all we’ve learned about Subnautica 2 so far (aside from the appearance of some tantalizing screenshots that were secretly incorporated into the first game), so it’s probably not a big surprise to see the feature , which was hinted at in the game’s very first trailer – a cinematic in which a diver meets up with a teammate in the depths of an alien ocean before a giant creature makes its presence known.

As for when we’ll finally get our hands on Subnautica 2, Krafton previously said that he expects the next installment in the ocean survival series to release in the first half of 2025, or sometime next year start early access. Platforms haven’t been announced (other than the fact that they were revealed during today’s Xbox Partner Preview presentation), so you can expect more concrete details soon.