Subnautica

First-person underwater survival crafting on a dangerous alien ocean

Unknown Worlds Entertainment · Released Jan 23, 2018

Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive; 97% of 380K
Recent reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive; 96% of 1,999 in 30 days
Playing now: 1,487; right now
Steam Deck: Verified
Last update: 11 months ago; Oct 3, 2025

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 380,442 reviews are positive · 96% of 1,999 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.

Screenshots and trailer

Subnautica system requirements

As published by the developer.

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

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Full controller support
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Achievements: 17
Steam features: Cloud saves, Family Sharing, Trading cards, VR

Steam Deck: Verified

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

Multiplayer and co-op

Single-player

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.