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Under the sea, down where it's wetter, that's where it's better. This is apparently the case for literally millions of players, as Subnautica 2 has already crossed a huge threshold for copies sold, and it's only been in early access one week.
Unknown Worlds, the developer and publisher behind the aquatic survival sequel, has revealed that Subnautica 2 sold over four million copies within five days of launching. Between that and the concurrent players on Steam peaking at over 467,000, it's safe to say the ocean-based adventure is doing well, at least so far.
"We’re incredibly grateful for the response from players around the world," Fernando Melo, executive producer on Subnautica 2, says in a statement. "Seeing millions of players dive into this new world during early access has been an incredible moment for the team."
It was clear coming up to launch that demand here was high, since Subnautica 2 managed to yield five million wishlists on Steam just days before becoming available. Then, on release day, it sold two million copies in mere hours. It's comfortably one of Steam's biggest selling games this year, and it may end up outdoing Crimson Desert, Slay the Spire 2, and others for the number one spot.
Besides Valve's marketplace, the game launched on Game Pass as well, where it has garnered a considerable number of fans as well, according to an analyst. The combined total player count is somewhere in the region of six million, estimates say. That's a lot of aquatic scientists.
This is some orders of magnitude bigger than the audience the original drew in. Eight years of anticipation plus being a well-made survival game seems to be a formula for success. Being underwater clearly doesn't hurt, either.
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