PCGame

Subnautica

First-person underwater survival crafting on a dangerous alien ocean

Unknown Worlds Entertainment · Released Jan 23, 2018

AdventureIndie

Reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
97% of 364K
Recent reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
96% of 1,965 in 30 days
Players
2,900
daily peak, Nov 7, 2026
Steam Deck
Verified
Last update on Steam
1 year ago
Oct 3, 2025
Minimum PC
HD 4600
4 GB RAM · 20 GB disk
Full requirements

Metacritic: 87/100 (critic reviews)

What is Subnautica?

This first-person, open-world survival adventure begins after a crash landing on an alien ocean planet. You explore reefs, caves, and deep trenches; manage food and oxygen; gather resources; craft equipment and vehicles; build seafloor bases; and investigate the planet while searching for a way home.

For you if...

  • +you enjoy exploring an open underwater world with little guidance
  • +you like gathering resources, crafting equipment, and building seafloor bases
  • +you want calm discovery mixed with threatening sea creatures

Not for you if...

  • −you prefer clear objectives and frequent story direction
  • −you dislike gathering materials and revisiting distant areas
  • −you want to explore and build with other players

What players say

97% of 364,410 reviews are positive · 96% of 1,965 in the last 30 days

Players praise the underwater world, exploration, sound, simple base building, and the tension created by dangerous creatures. The most common gameplay complaint is that later progression becomes slow and repetitive, with long trips for materials and too little direction. Some players also report progress-blocking bugs, while mod users criticize an update that removed access to a legacy build.

Players over time

▲ +11% vs a month ago

Players online on Steam, one sample a day.

Highest since Sep 2026: 3,543 players on Nov 1, 2026.

Show the data
DayPlayers
Nov 7, 20262,900
Nov 6, 20262,130
Nov 5, 20262,190
Nov 4, 20262,469
Nov 3, 20262,931
Nov 2, 20263,043
Nov 1, 20263,543
Oct 31, 20263,153
Oct 30, 20262,326
Oct 29, 20262,130
Oct 28, 20261,902
Oct 27, 20261,817
Oct 26, 20261,716
Oct 25, 20262,325
Oct 24, 20261,909
Oct 23, 20261,645
Oct 22, 20261,636
Oct 21, 20261,675
Oct 20, 20261,714
Oct 19, 20261,973
Oct 18, 20262,356
Oct 17, 20262,132
Oct 16, 20261,798
Oct 15, 20261,844
Oct 14, 20261,892
Oct 13, 20262,075
Oct 12, 20262,295
Oct 11, 20262,640
Oct 10, 20262,401
Oct 9, 20262,233
Oct 8, 20262,281
Oct 7, 20262,426
Oct 6, 20262,551
Oct 5, 20262,704
Oct 4, 20262,631
Oct 3, 20262,346
Oct 2, 20261,818
Oct 1, 20261,691
Sep 30, 20261,546
Sep 29, 20261,617
Sep 28, 20261,830
Sep 27, 20262,106
Sep 26, 20261,995
Sep 25, 20261,748
Sep 24, 20261,606
Sep 23, 20261,487
Sep 23, 20261,678
Sep 22, 20261,713
Sep 21, 20262,560

How many players finish Subnautica?

14% of Steam players have unlocked «Go Among the Stars», the achievement for finishing the main story.

Share of everyone who owns the game on Steam, including those who barely played it. Updated weekly.

Screenshots and trailer

Subnautica screenshot 1

Subnautica system requirements

Minimum: HD 4600, 4 GB RAM, 20 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

Can my PC run Subnautica?

Tell us your graphics card once and every game page will answer this for you.

Set up my PC →

Minimum

OS
Windows Vista SP2 or newer, 64-bit
Processor
Intel Haswell 2 cores / 4 threads @ 2.5Ghz or equivalent
Graphics
Intel HD 4600 or equivalent - This includes most GPUs scoring greater than 950 points in the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark
Memory
4 GB RAM
Storage
20 GB available space
DirectX
Version 11

Recommended

OS
Windows Vista SP2 or newer, 64-bit
Processor
Intel Haswell 4 cores / 4 threads @ 3.2Ghz or equivalent
Graphics
Nvidia GTX 550 Ti or equivalent, 2GB VRAM
Memory
8 GB RAM
Storage
20 GB available space
DirectX
Version 11

Does Subnautica have co-op or multiplayer?

No: single-player only, no multiplayer modes declared.

Does Subnautica run on Steam Deck?

Verified Yes, Verified by Valve: it works on Steam Deck out of the box.

  • All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
  • Shows Steam Deck controller icons
  • In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
  • Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
  • External controllers are not supported for the primary player

PC version details

DRM
None declared on Steam
Controller
Full controller support
Platforms
Windows, macOS
Achievements
17
Steam features
Cloud saves, Family Sharing, Trading cards, VR
Languages
Full audio: English. Text only: French, German, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, Finnish, Italian, Czech, Hungarian, Spanish - Spain, Danish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, Vietnamese, Spanish - Latin America, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese - Portugal, Latvian, Lithuanian, Slovak.

Does Subnautica use AI-generated content?

No AI-generated content is disclosed on the game's Steam page.

Self-reported by the developer under Steam rules: it covers AI content that ships in the game, not tools used to make it. Steam page checked on Nov 6, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam

Tags

Recent updates

1 DLC available.

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