According to Krafton, Subnautica 2 has recorded a peak of 651,000 simultaneous users between Steam, Epic Games Store and Xbox. Steam, where the game managed to reach 467,000 concurrent players shortly after going on sale, is without a doubt the platform on which it has been most successful. This figure multiplies by nine the 51,000 simultaneous users that the first Subnautica managed to gather just over 8 years ago. During this time Steam has grown considerably and Subnautica has been gaining followers.
The first Subnautica reached early access in 2014, left this development phase in 2018 and has managed to sell more than 18.5 million units. Subnautica 2 still has a long way to go to catch up to its predecessor, but starting with two million copies sold is certainly a promising start. The sequel has just gone on sale and is in early access, a development phase that some players prefer to avoid and delay the purchase until version 1.0 has a release date, while the console versions for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 are still missing.
Subnautica 2 has not yet been announced for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, but the first installment has reached both platforms and even has a mobile version. If Unknown Worlds waits for version 1.0 of Subnautica 2 to put the game on sale on these consoles, the launch could be delayed between 2 and 3 years, which is how long early access is expected to last. During this stage the title will receive new content (biomes, creatures…), polish systems and features and fix bugs.
The commercial success of Subnautica 2 has significant financial effects for both Krafton and the development team. When Krafton agreed to purchase Unknown Worlds in 2021, it committed to paying a $250 million bonus if the studio hit a revenue target in 2025. According to Charlie Cleveland, co-founder of Unknown Worlds, Subnautica 2 was ready for release in 2025, but Krafton decided to delay the game’s arrival to «deliver the best possible experience to players.»
Krafton fired Unknown Worlds founders Ted Gill, Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire for «abandoning their responsibilities» and the case ended up in court. The court agreed that the publisher had to reinstate CEO Ted Gill and extend the revenue target for the $250 million bonus until September 15, 2026.