Game News Roundup: Subnautica 2 Early Access & Palworld Milestones

Subnautica 2 Early Access Launch

Release and Availability

Subnautica 2, developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment and published by Krafton, entered early access on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at 8 AM PDT / 11 AM EDT / 4 PM BST / 15:00 UTC.

The game is available on PC (via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store) and Xbox Series X|S, with day-one inclusion on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Cross-platform multiplayer between PC and Xbox is supported.

The early access version is priced at $29.99 USD. A full 1.0 release is anticipated between 2027 and 2028. No release date has been announced for PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch 2.

Pre-Release Context

The early access launch follows several notable developments:

A judge ordered Krafton to extend the bonus deadline and reinstate former CEO Ted Gill, following a lawsuit over a $250 million bonus contingent on timely release.

• Previous Delay and Court Ruling: Krafton alleged that former CEO Ted Gill and other leaders had not delivered a game ready for early access. Terminated leaders sued, claiming Krafton was attempting to avoid the bonus. Krafton stated it disagreed with the ruling and was evaluating legal options.

• Leak: On May 12, 2026, screenshots and a gameplay clip were posted on Reddit showing alleged leaked footage from an unknown person who obtained a working copy.

First-Week Sales and Player Numbers

According to estimates from Alinea Analytics, Subnautica 2 sold over 4 million copies in its first week of early access.

Based on five-day sales on Steam, Subnautica 2 sold faster than several other 2026 releases:

• 1.4x faster than Slay the Spire 2 (2.9 million)
• Nearly 2x faster than Resident Evil Requiem (2.1 million)
• 3x faster than Crimson Desert (1.3 million)

In terms of gross revenue in the first five days, Resident Evil Requiem led with $120 million, followed by Subnautica 2 at $96 million.

The game had approximately 5.5 million Steam wishlists at launch. According to Alinea Analytics, less than 9% of those wishlisters purchased the game in the first week—a rate described as typical for anticipated games with many wishlists.

Player Reception and Community Feedback

As of its first week, Subnautica 2 held a 91% positive review score on Steam across all markets.

When excluding Chinese reviews (which were 73% positive), the positive score was approximately 93%.

Cited Positive Aspects:

• Visual design (underwater environments, lighting, particle effects, creature designs)
• Atmosphere (sense of isolation, sound design)
• Base-building mechanics (dynamic scaling, material storage, snapping system)
• Cooperative gameplay (supports up to four players, stable multiplayer)
• Narrative (story setup)

Cited Negative Aspects:

• Lack of content
• Optimization issues
• Mandatory EULA
• Absence of accessibility features (e.g., FOV slider)

Developer Response and Roadmap

Unknown Worlds has published a letter addressing planned fixes, including balance tweaks to mitigation tools and sea creature aggression. The studio stated it will not add direct combat mechanics to kill fish, as that would conflict with a core game tenet.

Level designer Artyom O'Rielly stated on Discord: "We aren't a killing game. Go play Sons of the Forest or something if you want to kill."

Lead game designer Anthony Gallegos told Eurogamer that the team is open to feedback on player defense options.

A roadmap for early access has been published, outlining planned updates:

• First update: Quality-of-life fixes
• Second update: Co-op improvements
• Larger expansions: Adding biomes, creatures, resources, tools, vehicles, and story content

The developer has stated that community input via in-game feedback tools and the Nolt suggestion board will shape development.

Developer Spotlight

Unknown Worlds launched a series titled "Dive into the Legacy," highlighting the community. The first episode features Artyom, a former playtester for Subnautica: Below Zero who now works as a level designer on Subnautica 2.

Artyom recounted his experience as a playtester and emphasized the role of community feedback in the creation of previous games. He aims to instill the same sense of awe and discovery into the sequel's environments, indicating that players will uncover more about alien life and engage in deeper exploration than previously possible.

Palworld Reaches 40 Million Players

Player and Sales Milestones

Palworld, developed by Pocketpair, has reached over 40 million total players across Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox as of its 1.0 launch.

The game sold approximately 30.5 million premium units, with 86% sold on Steam.

Platform Sales Since 1.0 Launch

Total gross revenue from direct software sales is estimated at $700 million. A 30% launch discount was applied on Steam (from June 25) and PlayStation (from July 16).

Player Engagement

• Average daily active users (DAUs) over the last weekend: 3.7 million
• Monthly active users projected to exceed 10 million this month across PC and console
• On Steam: 20% of owners (5.2 million) logged over 100 hours; 0.7% (200,000) logged over 500 hours
• On Xbox: Nearly 50% of players played under 5 hours; 8% played over 100 hours

User Review Sentiment

• Global Steam reviews: Predominantly positive
• Simplified Chinese reviews: 92% positive (slightly below global average)
• English reviewers expressed opposition to Nintendo's legal actions and noted AMD GPU performance issues
• Chinese reviewers praised mechanics and content scale but complained about balance changes in the 1.0 update

Future Plans

Pocketpair announced a spin-off title, Palworld: Palfarm, described as a farming and multiplayer simulation game similar to Stardew Valley. Notably, Stardew Valley ranks as Palworld's #3 game in shared unique players.