Subnautica 2 sold 2 million copies in its first 12 hours
Subnautica 2 sold 2 million copies in its first 12 hours on sale — making it one of the fastest-selling early access titles in Steam history. Publisher Krafton confirmed the figure to Korean outlet Inven Global, adding that the first million came within a single hour of the May 14 launch. For context, that's a $30 game outpacing most full-price releases on day one.
The numbers
Peak concurrent players on Steam hit 467,000 — roughly nine times higher than the original Subnautica's all-time peak of 51,000. Across all platforms the figure climbed to 651,000. The game debuted at 92% positive reviews on Steam and sat at number one on the global sales chart within hours of going live. Over 5 million wishlists had built up ahead of launch, so demand was never in doubt — but the scale still surprised many, including, by all accounts, the developers at Unknown Worlds.
Subnautica 2 peaked at 467,000 concurrent players on Steam within hours of its May 14 early access launch.
What you're getting
Subnautica 2 is a co-op underwater survival game for up to four players, built on Unreal Engine 5. It's priced at £25.99 in the UK and $29.99 in the US — well below the £49.99–£69.99 standard for premium releases right now. It's also included in Xbox Game Pass on day one, which makes it an easy pick-up for subscribers who want to test the waters before committing.
The game is available on Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and Xbox Series X|S. PS5 is not part of the early access window — Sony players will have to wait for the full 1.0 release, which is at least two to three years away.
The long game
Krafton has promised a structured early access roadmap with major content updates, smaller patches, and community-driven changes throughout the two-to-three-year window. There's already enough content to lose several dozen hours in the game as it stands. The bigger question, as Aftermath notes, is whether Unknown Worlds can sustain that momentum — Krafton's $250 million bonus for the studio is tied to long-term performance, not just launch-week velocity. Day-one numbers are a strong start, but early access is a marathon.