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Subnautica
With ≈ $4.93 at 
Kinguin, this is a strong moment to take on Subnautica’s solitary ocean expedition. The Steam PC version is built around solo survival, and full controller support is listed, so the purchase suits a focused dive into gathering, crafting, and base building.
English audio is listed, with interface support for Simplified and Traditional Chinese among other languages. That practical fit pairs well with an exploration loop where managing oxygen and preparing for deeper waters shape each outing. At $29.99 on Steam, ≈ $4.93 at Kinguin gives you room to choose the ocean-going setup that suits you.
KinguinSubnautica PC Steam CD KeyAll-time low ~ $7.49across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low
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Price History
Past 36 months · Updated dailyHistorical Low~ $7.492025-08Current Low Across Stores~ $26.99Steamvs. Historical Low+260%
Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.
01About Subnautica
Explore an alien ocean from its sunlit reefs to deep trenches and lava-lit caves. Gather resources, craft diving gear and vehicles, manage oxygen, build underwater bases, and investigate the planet while surviving its wildlife. Steam player reviews: 97% positive from 342,805 reviews. Steam PC supports interface languages: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, French, German, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Finnish, Italian, Czech, Hungarian, Spanish, Danish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese-Brazil, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, Vietnamese, Spanish-Latin America, and Portuguese.
Credits
Developer
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Publisher
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Lowest recorded in 36 months
$7.492025-08-13 · SteamBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.Language support
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | Yes | Yes | — |
| Traditional Chinese | Yes | Yes | — |
| English | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Show 21 more languages
| Language | Interface | Subtitles | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | Yes | Yes | — |
| German | Yes | Yes | — |
| Polish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Russian | Yes | Yes | — |
| Turkish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Finnish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Italian | Yes | Yes | — |
| Czech | Yes | Yes | — |
| Hungarian | Yes | Yes | — |
| Spanish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Danish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Japanese | Yes | Yes | — |
| Korean | Yes | Yes | — |
| Portuguese-Brazil | Yes | Yes | — |
| Bulgarian | Yes | Yes | — |
| Ukrainian | Yes | Yes | — |
| Dutch | Yes | Yes | — |
| Swedish | Yes | Yes | — |
| Vietnamese | Yes | Yes | — |
| Spanish-Latin America | Yes | Yes | — |
| Portuguese | Yes | Yes | — |
Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-19
02Before you buy
Language and audio
Steam PC lists English audio and interface support for Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese, alongside other interface languages.
Solo and controller
The Steam PC version supports single-player and full controller support.
03Frequently asked questions
What do you explore?
An alien ocean with reefs, kelp forests, caves, deep trenches, and underwater lava fields.
What can you build?
You can craft equipment, habitat modules, and submersibles, and build underwater bases to store resources and replenish oxygen.
How does wildlife affect exploration?
Some creatures can help, while others are dangerous; you can distract threats with fish or swim away from predators.
8.8
Overall Score
Graphics9.2
Audio9
Gameplay8
Story9.5
Content8
“Underwater exploration survival merges environmental storytelling and Unity-engine pressure mechanics across eight million copies sold.”
Our Verdict
The Big Picture: Eight-Year Evergreen Founding Father of PC's "Peaceful School"
When the title officially launched in January 2018, the PC survival genre was dominated by "violent school" representatives like DayZ and Project Zomboid — zombies, PvP, permadeath were the mainstream survival recipe at the time. Unknown Worlds, a San Francisco indie studio, walked in with the opposite product: underwater exploration, almost no combat, strong story-driven, sci-fi mystery puzzle. This counter-trend bet succeeded — the title became one of the most immersive representatives in the PC survival genre, and opened the "peaceful school survival" subgenre, a small-studio technical-obsession success template within the wider PC scene.
Eight years on, the title still ranks in Steam's top 5 by positive rating for the survival category — Steam 91% positive, around 8 million cumulative sales, IGN 91/100, PC Gamer 89/100, OpenCritic 87/100. The May 2026 Subnautica 2 early access launch sold 4 million copies in five days, validating the global pull of the series in the wider market. The title's success spawned later "peaceful school survival" representatives like Raft, The Forest, Sons of the Forest, and Green Hell, one of the spiritual icons of "PC small-studio classic" titles, sitting alongside BeamNG, Pocketpair, and The Indie Stone in the "PC four evergreen small-studio titans" pantheon.
Who Should Buy: Exploration Players Who Accept Deep-Sea Pressure
Three audiences. Story-driven exploration fans — fans of sci-fi mystery works like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Arrival, or Ice Age; the environmental storytelling and sci-fi plot here are the ceiling of the genre. Survival genre peaceful-school players — players from DayZ or Project Zomboid wanting a different flavor; the "peaceful school survival" here is an entirely different experience from the violent school of the same generation. Base building enthusiasts — players who love building, decorating, and photography; the "deep-sea villa" construction is the most "cyber underwater romance" gameplay in PC gaming today.
If you fall into any of these three audiences, the title remains a must-play and the value is extraordinary. Base game is 30 USD normally and 7.5 USD at the typical -75% discount — one of the cheapest hardcore survival games on PC. After buying, strongly start with 10 hours of slow shallow-water exploration to learn the mechanics — this is the onboarding path Chinese top streamer "Deep Sea Veteran" repeatedly recommends. Do not rush the mainline; enjoy the underwater exploration itself — this is the core psychological hook behind the title's eight-year evergreen long tail.
Who Should Skip: Players With Deep-Water Phobia and Combat Fans, Please Walk Away
The title does not suit three audiences. Players with deep-water phobia — the underwater visuals and depth feel are extremely realistic, and many players genuinely get goose bumps near deep-sea large Leviathans. The studio specifically labels "deep-water phobia players proceed with caution" on the Steam store page, a rare official warning in PC gaming. If you fear deep water, please walk away — the first 30 minutes will already make you uncomfortable. Combat-thrill seekers — the title has almost no traditional combat weapons (just basic tools like the survival knife and the spear gun), emphasizing exploration, building, and puzzle-solving. If you want shooting and melee thrills, play DayZ or Rust instead. Players who want story speedruns — the story unfolds entirely through environmental storytelling, with no NPC quest-giver characters and no forced cutscenes. If you want "to be pulled along by the story," play The Last of Us or Red Dead Redemption 2 instead.
Unknown Worlds makes no attempt to please everyone. The intended audience is sharp: explorers, peaceful-school survivors, base builders. If you are not in that picture, walk away — you will not enjoy it and will only leave a bad review. This is also why the 91 percent Steam positive rating, while high, has not pushed the title into universal visibility — Subnautica remains a niche but extraordinarily immersive representative, with a clearly defined target audience of patient adult players willing to slow down and explore the underwater world.
Recommended Edition and Discount Floor: Base Game Plus 100 Hours of Investment
For entry, the Steam base game is the choice (original 199 RMB, normal -75% discount at 50 RMB), and patient buyers can wait for Steam seasonal lows at -80% (around 40 RMB). No expansions needed — all updates are free patches. The Below Zero expansion is optional — Chinese community consensus is "play the base game first, consider the expansion only if you want more." The 2026 Subnautica 2 is an independent sequel (not an expansion of the original); currently in early access, it is recommended to wait for the 1.0 release (expected early 2027) before considering.
PC players should disable the oxygen prompt sound after entering the game as the first step — many veterans agree: the suffocation feel of "running out of oxygen and unable to find the surface" is the purest experience the title delivers. The second step is installing localization optimization packs — community Chinese resources are essential for newcomers. The third step is putting on headphones — underwater immersion with headphones is more than ten times the desktop speaker experience. Console players can pick PS5, Xbox Series X, or Switch — one of the rare "full-platform" survival games. VR players can pick PSVR or PC VR for the most immersive underwater world experience, but note that players with 3D motion sickness or deep-water phobia should approach carefully. The bottom line: discounted price plus 60-hour main story plus deep-sea villa building still makes Subnautica the most immersive PC exploration survival game to pick up in 2026, no exceptions across the entire genre.
Popular Steam reviews
Native-language selection · 10 reviewsSelected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.
RecommendedSteam player
I was kinda skeptical about buying this game at first, since most games i've bought in early access kindddaaa sucked majorly. Although I found a good deal on it and decided to try it out.. GAMEPLAY: My first hour went a little like this; "Oh this is actually a very pretty game" "Where's all the land?" "Look at all these crazy fish, they are so cute!" "Wait what are you?... OHFUKMAN GET AWAY FROM ME" "GET OFF MY ARM YOU SQUID WORM LEECH LOOKING THING" "WHY IS EVERYTHING TRYING TO KILL ME??" "This looks like a safe place... HOLY SH*T WHERE DID YOU COME FROM???" This game takes all of your fears of the deep dark ocean and puts them on steroids, every time that little thought crosses your mind that your survival chance can't get any worse, it can and it will. It's almost like this game runs on your "I hope this doesn't happen" thoughts. STORY: The whole plot of the game is one of the biggest area's still being worked on, it's more focused on gameplay and mechanics at the moment. I have to say though, the general background and lore of the game is very interesting and i'm excited to play through it when it's finished. PERFORMACE: First off, when you read all the reviews about the crashing and "needing a beast computer to play" isn't true at all. I have never had a crash, none of my friends have ever crashed, and if you really can't run this game at a playable FPS then you probably need to stop trying to use a baked potato for a graphics card. This game is put together far better than most fully released games i've seen. Yes, my framerate isn't pushing 80-120fps BUT considering my laptop is about 3 years old and I still manage 30-50fps on a gorgeous game like this is amazing.There really aren't any serious bugs, the most you really run into is like a light glitch or maybe a fish getting stuck in the ground, nothing game breaking. The mechanics and actual gameplay are FANTASTIC, I have to give the dev's credits for a real original survival game (since almost every one of them now-a-days are about the same with either zombies, cannibals, or just nature; but underwater alien horror survival? That's new). I HIGHLY recommend this game and if you actually read this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ review, i'm sorry I suck at this. Just buy the damn game, it's worth every penny and you'll enjoy the hell out of it.Show moreShow less
30.8 hours at review6,354 people found this helpful
Written during Early Access
Not recommendedSteam player
Stop looking at the negative reviews. Buy this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game. NOTE: I update this thread periodically to evaluate the games performance as it evolves. Check back every few months for a little tidbit extra. August 8th, 2015: Where was I? Oh yes. I wont tell you about the amazing visuals, sound, and loads of new content being rolled out by the responsive devs, Ill leave all the good points to the other 94% of writings on this game. Instead ill tell you why the 6% of negative reviews arent representative. Ive read through about half of the complaints and the primary complaints are lack of content, and some lag. People: The devs themselves currently claim there is only about 2 hours of content. This is well known. This is no secret. If you come and buy a game whos makers are TELLING you this, and then complain of (Current) lack of content, you shouldnt downvote the game, you should downvote youir own lack of research. And besides, theyre working really hard to fix that already and are doing a great job of it with regular community updates. And yes, as you also may of noticed the game looks AMAZING. While there are video settings, some computers simply cant handle the beta-optimization of this game. The devs already fixed many lag issues, instant memory crashes, ect. but its not perfect. You will need a modern/decent computer to run this, but not state of the art. Note: many older performance-related reviews are now irrelevant. Take them with a grain of salt. However, once again people, there is a minimum system requirement DIRECTLY underneath the "About Game" section of this page for god sakes. Read it. Once again, many who bought the game and did not like it, did'nt glance at the current needs of the game, and therfore should blame themselves for poor foresight, and not the devs for poor game design. And they're working on further improving performance. And to top it all off, there are almost no game breaking bugs, just small nuanced visual glitches like hollow objects, fish stuck in odd rocks, ect. Very minor and easily ignored. No inventory wipes, no spawn glitches, no stat swings, or sudden drops in thirst or hunger, and the game will even try and warn you when a crash is about to happen, giving you precious time to save and restart to continue where you left off. So please, for gods sake, remember that every issue with this game is simply out of the devs control at the moment. Early access games are sometimes laggy, buggy, and with lower content than the finished versions. The fact that games spend time in this early stage is no ones fault. Just be sure you know what your buying when you buy it. BUY THIS GAME. [End of Game Review] EDIT: For those posting to the tune of "Dont give this game a negative review if you want it to fly" ect. When I wrote this review, I thought the way I could make the biggest impact is by writing directly to the wary buyers who might be looking at old, outdated, or non-game related complaints as justification not to support this game. And where better to write to them than here in the negative reviews? For those singing to the the other tune of "Dont skew the stats" ect. Doing simple math: As of 8/15/2015, there are 4,509 total reviews for Subnautica. This means that 1% of that is 45.09.(The equation is 4,509 x .01 = 45.09) This means that AT LEAST 45 reviews would be needed to change the visible stats at all. So seeing as this review is 1/45th (0.02222) of what we would need to change anything for the devs, lay off. The added bonus of being seen far more often by the people who actually need to see it (Catious buyers) far outstrips the harm being done to this amazing game. And to make this abundantly clear: THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY A NEGATIVE REVIEW. Further Edit: The date is now 11/18/15, and many many changes have come to subnautica since I origninally drafted this snarky attack on ignorant steam shoppers. While many of my comments ideas still stand, Subnautica no longer has only 2 hours of playable content. While I estimate first time runthrough at about 15 hours if you take your time, I dont know the official opinion on game depth. Ill leave it to you to read up on exactly what theyve pumped out this month, but I can garentee you will get your money back in playable value. (Seamoth update is hype) Further optimization, and the game crashes even less now... ECT ECT. The game is still going strong in every regard. 10/10, would leave negative review again. EDIT: 3/23/2016 In the name of fair play, I will have to now throw a warning to the wind. For some, my assesment of graphical stability is now overly optimistic. Ocassional drops in FPS do occur. The recent geeneral visual upgrades means the game performance was somewhat impacted. While its nowhere near gamebreaking, some people may have more trouble on minimum graphics than others. It should be noted that this happened as a result of a MASSIVE shader and water texture overhaul, so its to be expected. This is by no means a case of Dev neglect. Careful review of minimum system requirements and common sense should avoid any major issues. Game is totally playable. Devs are working on a fix ASAP! All my other comments stand 100% to this day. EDIT 5/19/2016: I am happy to say all performance realted issues are solved despite all the graphics improving in texture, vibrancy, and depth. New balancing changes and model updates, MORE CONTENT! EDIT: 06/08/2016 Now with Nopesquids! Ft. Battery-Rechargers and beds. This sounds lame, but its actually a way bigger deal than you would ever suspect. New models for solar power! Sea dragon / huge creature update on the horizon! 10/10 Would never leave shallow reef again. EDIT: 09/19/2016 Development has taken off. Lava lizard, Sea Dragon, and Lava Larvae are now functionally in the game. Additoinal assets of the precursors have been added, along with the completed PRAWN suit update. And lastly, dont forget about expanded Aurora compartments and data pads to check out, adding volumes to the implimented story. Incoming are sea emporer and the finishing touches to the Lost River biome. But really what is most important right now is that we can now quit to the main menu, thank god. EDIT: 02/04/2018 I stopped updating this thread some time ago, since development was happening faster than I could get around to writing about it. But enough of this thought: Ladies and Gentelmen? SUBNAUTICA IS OUT. This game, which I have supported for years, stands as a shining beacon of what Seam Early Access game should be. The Devs delivered a deep and compelling story woven through a complex and stunning world, at an extremley affordable price. Every cent spent in support of this amazing team is another dollar for devs who respect the consumers time and financial resources. I thank them for giving me the pleasure of exploration, suspense, and danger in a new environment rarley seen in gaming history. After so many soul-less abominations out of EA and other AAA titles in 2017, Subnautica is my refuge when I want to FEEL game, and not just play it. It one of those titles where I wish I could erase my memory and experince, just so I could live through the wonder all over again. Its time to lay this thread to rest, guys. We did it together, as a community. Enjoy Subnautica. So stop looking at the negative reviews. Buy this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game.Show moreShow less
102.3 hours at review2,118 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
It's hard to overstate what a magnificent exploration and adventure game Subnautica is. What really stands out to me is that experience—not an XP bar, but the accumulation of knowledge about the game world, its locations, and its inhabitants—is the most powerful weapon in a player's arsenal. Take Stalkers, for example: They're the first large predators a player will meet, and initially they're annoying and seem quite threatening. An experienced player will ignore them, though, or at most circle and poke them with a knife to make them go away, while at the same time stealing all of their scrap. It helps to have upgraded swim fins, upgraded O2, and other advantages, but if you took upgraded fins and O2 tanks away from experienced players, they still wouldn't have any issues with Stalkers. There's a lot to find and a lot to do in this game. The need to unravel the game's central mysteries and to obtain blueprint fragments, salvage, and rare materials from wrecks, grottoes, and strange installations will force you to leave your comfort zone time and again. First you'll crawl out of the Safe Shallows, then you'll creep further and deeper, then you'll swim further still until one day you'll be amazed at how far away from Lifepod 5 you've gone, at the readout on your depth meter, and you'll wonder how you ever thought that the seaweed areas just outside of the Safe Shallows were in any way scary. Sustenance is a challenge at first, and you'll scramble to get enough food and water, but later on they become a matter of management and planning ahead. If you're going on a long expedition, you'll want enough supplies to last for the duration, but not so many that you can't haul a goodly amount of salvage back to base. As for fiddly stuff, you can spend hours building and customizing your underwater habitat, customize the look and module loadout of the various vehicles you can build (once you've got the complete blueprints and necessary materials), and have a lot of fun with the wide array of gadgets and Portal/Half-Life-style "techno-guns" the game has to offer. There's a lot of meat there, but the true meal lies in exploration. Even at the very end of the game, though, armed with all the technology you've spent hours pulling out of wrecks and scanning (typically while watching your O2 meter like a hawk and listening nervously to that angry predator thrashing around outside), you'll never feel completely safe or at ease. There are great dangers lying in wait, and you'd better hope you spot them on your sonar before their sonar catches wind of you....Show moreShow less
90.2 hours at review2,488 people found this helpful
Written during Early Access
Not recommendedSteam player
Firing the Lead Sound Designer for differing political opinions is a practice I am not willing to support. I believe that freedom of speech is important in every context. If I could refund my purchase I would.Show moreShow less
31.1 hours at review1,833 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Can't wait to play this game with my favorite Logitech controllerShow moreShow less
2 hours at review2,282 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
I love this game, it's absolutely beautifully designed and made. But you can't fire an employee just because you have differing political opinions. That is wrong on so many levels, you hired them for their skills and talents. Diversity means a great deal of variety; very different. If everything is exactly the same, that isn't diverse. It's literally the opposite of the definition, and the backwords way of thinking only further divides people rather than bringing people together. The employee in question did their job and a mighty fine one at that. The sound design of Subnautica is outstanding, there was absolutely no reason to terminate this employee.Show moreShow less
15 hours at review1,276 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
do not play this game with a logitech G F710 wireless gamepad, worst mistake of my lifeShow moreShow less
4 hours at review2,001 people found this helpful
Not recommendedSteam player
Yet another great game headed by SJWs, who prefer to fire their own over "wrong think", than be reasonable adults who can handle differing opinions. Can't recommend the game anymore and will be blacklisting the company from here on.Show moreShow less
38 hours at review822 people found this helpful
RecommendedSteam player
Seriously, this is one of the RARE early access games that has made good on it's words. Thank you on behalf of the gaming community on not taking the oppurtunity to rip us off like so many other developers did. This game is well thought out and amazingly fun, looks great, lots of hand crafted content and lovingly made. 10\10Show moreShow less
26.4 hours at review1,832 people found this helpful
Written during Early Access
Not recommendedSteam player
THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE VR VERSION OF THE GAME ONLY. If you're looking for a good VR experience to dip your toes into.....this isn't it. There is ONLY head tracking, and even that is half-assed. The VR version was lazily added in, and is completely and utterly not worth the money if you're looking for a VR experience.Show moreShow less
0.3 hours at review616 people found this helpful
Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/14/2026.