Subnautica

Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more - all while trying to survive.

English voiceAdventureIndieJanuary 24, 2018
Masterpiece
GamePickHub score
97% of 343,075 Steam reviews positive
Metacritic 87
-75%$29.99$7.49
View on Steam ↗Read all Steam reviews ↗

At a glance

● Pros

  • Acclaimed: 97% of 343,075 Steam players recommend it
  • Metacritic critic score 87
  • Full English voice acting
  • Full controller support
  • 75% off right now ($7.49)
  • Runs on low-end PCs (min. 4GB RAM)
  • Steam Deck Verified

● Cons

No notable downsides in the data.

Great for

  • Exploration and storytelling
  • Discovering distinctive indie games

Summarized automatically from Steam reviews, Metacritic, language support, price and spec data.

What players talk about

How often each topic comes up in 49 Steam reviews (English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese) · 94% of them recommend the game

  • Freedom & exploration👍 11
  • Combat & action👍 10
  • Multiplayer & co-op👍 9
  • Story👍 7
  • Bugs👍 4
  • Amount of content👍 4
  • Graphics👍 3
  • Atmosphere👍 3

Counts how many reviews mention each topic, split by whether the review recommends the game.

“It's hard to overstate what a magnificent exploration and adventure game Subnautica is.”
👍 From a Steam review · 92.9 hrs played · Read full review ↗

Read all Steam reviews ↗

About the game

Subnautica is an underwater adventure game set on an alien ocean planet. A massive, open world full of wonder and peril awaits you!

Dive Into a Vast Underwater World

You have crash-landed on an alien ocean world, and the only way to go is down. Subnautica's oceans range from sun drenched shallow coral reefs to treacherous deep-sea trenches, lava fields, and bio-luminescent underwater rivers. Manage your oxygen supply as you explore kelp forests, plateaus, reefs, and winding cave systems. The water teems with life: Some of it helpful, much of it harmful.

Scavenge, Craft, and Survive

After crash landing in your Life Pod, the clock is ticking to find water, food, and to develop the equipment you need to explore. Collect resources from the ocean around you. Craft diving gear, lights, habitat modules, and submersibles. Venture deeper and further form to find rarer resources, allowing you to craft more advanced items.

Construct Underwater Habitats

Build bases on the sea floor. Choose layouts and components, and manage hull-integrity as depth and pressure increase. Use your base to store resources, park vehicles, and replenish oxygen supplies as you explore the vast ocean.

Unravel the Mystery

What happened to this planet? Signs abound that something is not right. What caused you to crash? What is infecting the sea life? Who built the mysterious structures scattered around the ocean? Can you find a way to make it off the planet alive?

Disrupt the Food Chain

The ocean teems with life: Use the ecosystem to help you. Lure and distract a threatening creature with a fresh fish, or simply swim as fast as you can to avoid gnashing jaws of roaming predators.

Handle the Pressure

Build a Pressure Re-Active Waterproof Nanosuit, or PRAWN Suit, and explore extreme depth and heat. Modify the suit with mining drills, torpedo launchers, propulsion cannons, grappling hooks and more.

Fear the Night

As the sun goes down, the predators come out. The ocean is unforgiving of those caught unprepared in the darkness. Areas that are safe to explore during the day become treacherous at night, but also reveal a beauty that those who hide from the darkness will never see.

Dive Below the Ocean Floor

Cave systems wind below the sea bed, from dark claustrophobic passages to caverns lit by bio-luminescent life and burning-hot lava flows. Explore the world below the ocean floor, but watch your oxygen levels, and take care to avoid the threats lurking in the darkness.

About the Development Team

Subnautica is being created by Unknown Worlds, a small studio founded by Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire that traces its roots back to the 2003 Half-Life mod Natural Selection. The team is scattered around the globe, from the United States to the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Russia, Thailand, Australia, and many more places. There is a central office in San Francisco, California that serves as home base for the whole team.

Warning

This game contains flashing lights that may make it unsuitable for people with photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitive conditions. Player discretion is advised.

Source: Steam store page (provided by the developer/publisher)

PC requirements

Minimum

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS *: Windows Vista SP2 or newer, 64-bit
Processor: Intel Haswell 2 cores / 4 threads @ 2.5Ghz or equivalent
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel HD 4600 or equivalent - This includes most GPUs scoring greater than 950 points in the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 20 GB available space
VR Support: SteamVR. Keyboard or gamepad required

Recommended

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

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Updated October 27, 2026 · Source: Steam