The title has held the top spot on Steam's global wishlist for nine straight months and recently crossed 5 million cumulative wishlists, the company said. It also climbed to No. 1 on Steam's global top-grossing chart shortly after pre-orders opened.
Krafton and Unknown Worlds staged the "First Dive Showcase" on May 10 to mark the milestone, streaming simultaneously on Twitch, YouTube and Steam to a peak concurrent audience of about 80,000 viewers. Developers walked through the design direction and demonstrated new vehicles and an expanded base-building system.
The accompanying gameplay trailer showcased a richly rendered marine ecosystem powered by Unreal Engine 5, alongside a body-adaptation mechanic, fresh underwater vehicles and tense encounters with deep-sea titans.
"We were overwhelmed by the warm response to the early access launch," said Ted Gill, CEO of Unknown Worlds. "We look forward to building this game together with our players, listening to their voices along the way."
Founded by Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire, Unknown Worlds developed "Subnautica 2" as the official sequel to the genre-defining "Subnautica" series. Set on a different alien planet, the game introduces a four-player cooperative mode for the first time in the franchise, broadening the survival experience beyond solo play.
The launch arrives despite a bruising legal battle between Krafton and Unknown Worlds' founding leadership over the title's release timing and a $250 million performance-based earnout.
Gill, Cleveland and McGuire were ousted in July 2025 and later sued Krafton in Delaware's Court of Chancery, which on March 16 ruled that Krafton had breached its acquisition agreement and ordered Gill reinstated as chief executive. The court also extended the earnout window to September, though litigation over damages remains pending.
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