Subnautica 2 has become the most wishlisted game on Steam by far. All in spite of all the drama around the video game due to publisher Krafton sabotaging its release and development, beginning in July 2025 when they illegally fired the co-founders of developer Unknown World Entertainment. Fortunately, all that is behind us now, especially with the game all set to release just days away on May 14, 2026. The hype around that is palpable, with fans on Reddit anticipating that its release will cause Steam to crash, just like the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong did back in September 2025. Even more fortunately though, it seems that Unknown Worlds has a possible solution to prevent that scenario.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment is proud to announce that they have made Subnautica 2 available for pre-purchase and pre-loading. What this means is that you can purchase the game right now from Steam, Epic Games, or Xbox as of May 11, 2026; and then download the game in advance. The game will be locked until the release date on May 14, but since it’s just a scant few days away, it’s only a short time to wait until you can finally play it.
That’s not all though. Unknown Worlds is also proud to announce that, to celebrate Subnautica 2 reaching five million wishlists on Steam, “every player across every platform” will receive the blueprints for the Reaper Leviathan Statue in-game. Previously, that had been a reward only for players who bought the game in the first week after Early Access Launch. Now though, anyone who buys the game at any point will get it for free.
Subnautica 2 Available for Pre-Purchase and Pre-Loading in Anticipation of Early Access Release
I have to admit: this is a smart move on the part of Unknown Worlds. It means that instead of everyone trying to buy Subnautica 2 on May 14, the purchases are all spread out in the 72 hours leading up to it. That and the pre-loading basically means that when the game finally sees its long-awaited Early Access release, everyone can immediately start playing it without worrying about crashing Steam. It’s a rather brilliant solution, but it’s also only one that works for the most popular games.
Fortunately, at five million wishlists on Steam, Subnautica 2 has more than met that milestone. We no longer even have to worry about missing out on that Reaper Leviathan Statue now. It’s just now a freebie for all fans to enjoy at any time.
What do you all think? Are you eager to pre-purchase Subnautica 2 and finally play it this Thursday on May 14? Tell us your abyssal thoughts in the comments section below.
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