Subnautica 2 Dev Shows Off First In-Game Screenshot

thegamer.com:

Subnautica publisher Krafton released a new earnings report earlier this week, causing a little bit of confusion among fans. While it originally seemed like Krafton would be making Subnautica 2 a live-service title, an update was quickly issued to explain that it simply meant the game will be continually supported, rather than feature any live service trappings such as battle passes or microtransactions.

In all that confusion, an image was released of what people must have assumed was either a piece of concept art or a standard screenshot of the first Subnautica. In actuality, developer Liam Tart recently revealed on Twitter earlier today that it's an in-game screenshot of Subnautica 2 that they personally took, which has now essentially become our first proper look at the game.

In the screenshot, which has been embedded above, we can see several interesting features, including a new underwater vehicle of some kind. We can also see several new creatures floating around, including a few jellyfish-like creatures, a purple creature on the right, and a large shark-like creature right in the middle, which looks big enough to potentially be a new Leviathan.

We have a lot more we want to add. We're trying to keep the unique art style of SN1/BZ but utilise UE5 for much higher fidelity. I think you'll all be impressed by the final product!

Tart goes on to explain that Subnautica 2 will see a lot of graphical improvements between now and release, as the developers attempt to stay true to the art style of Subnautica and Below Zero, whilst also utilizing Unreal Engine 5 for higher fidelity. Honestly, the screenshot that's been released looks pretty fantastic already, so it'll be interesting to see what the final product looks like when Subnautica actually releases in Early Access.

As for when that's going to happen, there was a bit of confusion surrounding the release date earlier this week too. Krafton made it seem like Subnautica 2 is planned to launch in Early Access at some