Subnautica 2 Enters Early Access May 14, Day-One on Xbox Game Pass

Subnautica 2 will enter Early Access on May 14, 2026, at 15:00 UTC, with a single global unlock across platforms and day-one availability on Xbox Game Pass. In a May 9 news post, developer Unknown Worlds said, “Subnautica 2 will enter Early Access on May 14th, 2026, at 08:00 PDT / 15:00 UTC for $29.99 USD.” That means players will be able to start at the same moment worldwide, rather than on a staggered regional schedule.

For local launch times, that translates to 8 a.m. PDT in Los Angeles, 11 a.m. EDT in New York, 4 p.m. BST in London and 5 p.m. CEST in Central Europe on May 14. In Asia-Pacific time zones, it unlocks at 11 p.m. SGT in Singapore on May 14, then rolls into May 15 at midnight JST in Tokyo and 1 a.m. AEST in Sydney.

The launch price is $29.99 in the United States, with regional pricing applied on storefronts. On PC, the game will be available through Steam, the Epic Games Store and the Microsoft Store via the Xbox app, and it is also launching on Xbox Series X|S. Xbox Wire said the game is coming to Xbox Game Pass on May 14 as a day-one Game Preview release. The Steam page also lists May 14, 2026, as the release date. Unknown Worlds said pre-purchase and pre-load were enabled for the 72 hours leading up to launch, starting May 11.

This is an Early Access release, not the game’s full 1.0 launch. Subnautica 2 is the next entry in Unknown Worlds’ underwater survival-crafting series, and the studio is releasing it in a work-in-progress state through storefronts and Xbox’s Game Preview program.

The timing also comes after an unusual fight over control of the studio and the game’s release. On March 16, 2026, the Delaware Court of Chancery — the state court that handles many corporate disputes — reinstated Ted Gill as CEO of Unknown Worlds with “full operational authority.” In the ruling, the court said, “Gill — with his authority restored — may proceed with the early access release of Subnautica 2 when he deems it appropriate.”