Subnautica 2 has already sold 1 million copies and it's been out for literally one hour
Subnautica 2 has already sold over a million copies one hour into its Early Access launch, developer Unknown Worlds says.
Key leadership from the company had been booted from Subnautica 2 development until recently, when the winds changed in the ongoing legal drama with parent company Krafton, and now the game appears fully recovered and sporting a revenge body. Over on Twitter, the official Subnautica account shares, "Over 1 million Subnauts have already dived into Subnautica 2" with a little mind blown emoji that sums up how wild a milestone that is already. The team adds, "We can't thank you enough for your support!"
Over 1 million Subnauts have already dived into Subnautica 2 🤯 We can't thank you enough for your support! pic.twitter.com/3a0OKXChvpMay 14, 2026
Unknown Worlds co-founder and Subnautica director Charlie Cleveland was suddenly ejected from the company in 2025 along with CEO Ted Gill and co-founder Max McGuire. At the time, Cleveland expressed "shock" at the dismissal while Krafton countered that Cleveland was speeding toward an Early Access release to receive a promised $250 million payout.
The current fate of that cash is still unknown, as Krafton recently told GamesRadar+, "the former executives' claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation [is] still pending" after a judge ordered the publisher to reinstate fired CEO Gill in March.
Anyway, Unknown Worlds has certainly made a couple of dollars in selling its astounding 1 million copies, likely made possible by huge pre-order numbers. Ahead of its launch, Subnautica 2 topped Steam's best-sellers chart, and landed on 5 million Steam wishlists.
No matter its origin, the sales indicate a huge change in fortune for Unknown Worlds. Not long ago, we wondered if we'd ever even get our hands on Subnautica 2 at all – now it's out for anyone to grab on Steam, the Epic Games Store, or Xbox.
And people are clamoring for the underwater sequel, in which you work alone or with friends in co-op to survive in a persnickety alien ocean. Not only did the game instantly debut to massive numbers on Steam – it's sitting at 463,021 concurrent players, according to SteamDB at the time of writing – but also, an hour after launch, it's probably even more popular than we know.
The Steam numbers were already impressive, and 1 million copies sold is also extremely impressive. But when you take into account that Subnautica 2 is also included in Xbox Game Pass, it becomes even wilder, since there's bound to be a number of people who are playing Subnautica 2 through their subscriptions. It's possible that Unknown Worlds has effectively moved well over 1 million copies, easy.
Now that Subnautica 2 is out, Valve's own Deadlock tops Steam's most wishlisted chart.
Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.
View MoreYou must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
Logout LATEST ARTICLES
1The Steam Controller is unmatched at letting you play mouse and keyboard games from the comfort of your couch, but as a gamepad it loses out to GameSir, Flydigi, Nacon, and more- 2"FromSoftware is making steady progress" amid push "to develop IP in games" and film, says owner Kadokawa as Elden Ring movie looms
- 3Now that Subnautica 2 is out, Valve's own Deadlock tops Steam's most wishlisted chart
- 4GTA 6 price listed as $115 via one retailer as pre-order rumors circulate, and fans are praying it's just a "placeholder"
- 5Studio behind hit co-op game apologizes after $75,000 AI video contest leads to Steam review bomb: "We hoped AI could be a more accessible tool"
Схожі новини
Subnautica 2 Dev Responds To Pirates
Subnautica 2 sells 1 million copies in its first hour, and I have to imagine the CEO of Krafton is pouring himself a very stiff drink right about now
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 studio Warhorse raises $65,000 to help preserve the real-life medieval castle that's Henry's homebase in the first RPG
