"I don't think we've seen anything like this in any other survival game": Subnautica 2 devs say new base-building system uses "techniques that haven't been used in games in this way before"

A woman in an underwater suit receiving a danger warning during the trailer for Subnautica 2. — (Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

Constructing your lab will be a central facet of underwater exploration in Subnautica 2, and the tools available to you are evolving for the sequel. In the latest development vlog, Unknown Worlds Entertainment gets into the added customization that'll be available in the marine survival sim.

"This is a brand new system, I don't think we've seen anything like this in any other survival game," Kiel McDonald, base design lead on Subnautica 2, says.

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"We have a much more sculptural and expressive system," McDonald explains. A highlighted example is in the windowmaking – previously, you just had to live with whatever sheets of glass and plastic the game offered, whereas now, all sorts of variables are at your fingertips.

"With the procedural system, instead of having just these big blocks that you can put the windows on," Carolyn Lu, senior engineer, explains, "you can make windows in whatever shape you want."

It all looks quite fluid going by the footage given. You can add curves and other aesthetic options to the architecture, letting you make a base that's truly befitting of your quest into the depths. Subnautica 2 is due to arrive in early access at some point this year.

Subnautica 2's "optional co-op" looks like exactly what I want – not the live-service mess I was afraid the survival game might become