Subnautica 2’s new dev vlog reveals new tools, big rocks, and an evolving ocean

Unknown Worlds, the creator of the critically-acclaimed underwater survival game Subnautica, has released a second dev vlog for the upcoming sequel Subnautica 2. The new developer video highlights how the team is crafting an alien ocean world using cutting-edge tools, community innovations, and a blend of procedural and hand-sculpted artistry.

Seth, the game’s Senior Narrative Designer, opens the preview by setting the tone: This is a world where alien DNA seeps into your bones… where you might be the last human - or the first of something new. He then goes on to say that the game builds on the lore of Subnautica, Below Zero, and even Natural Selection, creating a living, reactive ocean unlike anything players have seen before.

Next, Artyom, a Level Designer at Unknown Worlds, emphasizes that, like the previous entries, Subnautica 2 is completely handcrafted. Like Subnautica 1 and Below Zero, Subnautica 2 is completely handcrafted. Each zone is thought through and designed by hand, Artyom explained. This handcrafted approach ensures that exploration feels deliberate, balanced, and immersive.

One technical challenge was eliminating asset seams – visual glitches where different 3D elements meet. This time, the team chose not to use voxels, which was a departure from earlier games. It forced us to find another way to blend meshes… MeshBlend has changed how we do everything – it’s just black magic, Environment Artist Ben Hale explained. The tool, created by modder Tore Lervik, lets artists blend hard seams between assets seamlessly in post-processing.

The video also featured creature pipeline designer James Stout, who demonstrated procedural tools inside Blender that allow artists to dynamically alter juvenile creature tendrils and forms: We can tweak the lengths of tendrils, the squishiness of tentacles, and how they sway. It makes each creature feel unique without ballooning memory usage, Stout explained.

In addition to the environment, Ben Hale, who specializes in geological assets (rocks, notably), walked viewers through his custom “Tufa Kit” – a pipeline using Substance Designer, ZBrush, and custom brushes to build interlocking rock formations. We’ve got rock formations that hit nearly a million polys, Hale said, noting that this level of detail was crucial to keeping the seabed feeling natural, not modular.

Despite its visual fidelity, the game is being carefully optimized. We're using vertex color channels, trim sheets, and texture compression to get the most out of each frame, explained James. This ensures Subnautica 2 will run on a variety of systems, without compromising quality.

While the exact release date for Subnautica 2 is still unknown, the early access version is likely to arrive sometime later this year. As mentioned in a recent Q&A video, Subnautica 2 will primarily be a single-player experience with an optional co-op experience.