Subnautica is an open-world action-adventure game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. The game has the player as a non-essential systems maintenance chief who is the only survivor of a spaceship crash on the alien planet 4546B. They are free to explore the oceanic planet, the main objectives being to find essential resources, survive the local flora and fauna, and find a way to escape the planet.
Subnautica was released in early access for Windows in December 2014, macOS in June 2015, and for Xbox One in May 2016. It was released out of early access in January 2018 for macOS and Windows, with versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December 2018. The physical console versions were published by Gearbox Publishing. The Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S versions were released in May 2021.
By January 2020, more than five million copies had been sold. A standalone expansion, Subnautica: Below Zero, was released May 14, 2021.
Subnautica is a survival action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a first-person perspective. The player controls the lone survivor of the Aurora, Ryley Robinson, as he is stranded on a remote ocean planet known as 4546B.
The main objective is to explore the ocean and survive its dangers, while completing tasks to advance the plot. Players can collect resources, construct tools, build bases, submersibles, and interact with the planet's wildlife.
Some of the most extreme dangers to the player include dangerous fauna like Crabsquids, Stalkers, Crashfish, and Leviathan-class lifeforms like the Reaper, Sea Dragon and Ghost Leviathans.
The majority of the game is set underwater, with two explorable islands hidden across the map, and a simulated day-and-night cycle that affects visibility. Upon beginning a new game, players are given an option between four difficulty modes:
In survival mode, the player manages their depleting health, hunger, thirst and oxygen. If the player dies, they respawn, but certain items are removed from their inventory. In freedom mode, gameplay is near-identical to that of Survival mode, but without hunger and thirst. In hardcore mode, gameplay includes permanent death. the player dies, they do not respawn, and their save file is instead permanently deleted. In creative mode, all depleting characteristics, such as health and thirst, are removed, all blueprints are unlocked, and the player can craft without needing resources. Additionally, the submersibles, a stasis rifle, a Seaglide, a mobile vehicle bay, and a propulsion cannon are provided, which do not need an energy source to operate. The game supports VR headsets, such as the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, with the additional input of a keyboard and mouse or game controller.