After years of delay, and a legal battle that seemed to hold the release hostage for even longer, Subnautica 2 looks to land in Early Access in the next couple of months. After a judge decided that the old CEO of Subnautica developer Unknown Worlds should be reinstated, and that Krafton must pay the $250 million bonus as it tried to avoid prior, it seems like the Subnautica 2 drama is drawing to a close.
As reported by IGN, Unknown Worlds and publisher Krafton have agreed that Subnautica 2 will be given its Early Access launch in May. An exact date hasn't been revealed as of the time of writing, but the game will launch for both Xbox Series X/S, and PC in Early Access.
A message from Unknown Worlds head Steve Papoutsis confirms as much and reads as follows: "We want to take a moment to sincerely thank every member of the Unknown Worlds team and our partners. Over the past nine months, you have worked incredibly hard to bring Subnautica 2 close to the finish line. That effort has resulted in a game we are truly proud of, one that each of us and our partners at Krafton unanimously determined is ready for Early Access release in May.
Thanks to your dedication and talent, we've added more story chapters, built new creatures, and created new biomes along with many other features. With this significant progress, we have passed KRAFTON's milestone review last week and are now ready to start our open development journey alongside our community. We have full confidence that we have reached a point where we can deliver an experience our players will love.
We look forward to working with Ted Gill to support a smooth transition and work toward a successful launch. Our priority is getting this game into the hands of the community that has been eagerly waiting for it—and that means honoring the work you have already done to make that possible."
Litigation is still pending, meaning the legal battle is still ongoing, but even if there's still tensions between old Unknown Worlds leadership and Subnautica 2's publisher, they have agreed the game is ready for this Early Access leap in May.