Subnautica 2 has won the Best Early Access Game award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026.
Subnautica 2 reached 2 million cumulative copies sold within 12 hours of its Early Access launch on May 15, and surpassed 5 million copies sold in 22 days. The game was developed by Unknown Worlds, a creative studio under Krafton.
The Golden Joystick Awards, now in its 44th year, is an awards ceremony where winners in each category are decided by online voting from players worldwide. Following the original Subnautica being named PC Game of the Year in 2018, Unknown Worlds took home the award in the Best Early Access Game category with its sequel.
Set on an unknown alien ocean planet where players survive, gather resources, and build bases, Subnautica 2 is an open-world survival crafting game. Featuring an up-to-four-player co-op mode introduced to the series for the first time, players can explore the ecosystem alongside companions.
Unknown Worlds continues to adopt an Open Development approach, completing the game alongside players throughout the Early Access period. Based on user feedback, the studio has refined the exploration and survival experience while adding proximity voice chat and a revive system for cooperative play. Later this year, it plans to unveil new exploration areas, marine creatures, biomes, and vehicles in what will be the largest update since the Early Access launch.
Anthony Gallegos, Creative Director of Subnautica 2, stated, "This award is all the more meaningful as an achievement shared with the players who have been building Subnautica 2 together with us". He added, "We are deeply grateful to the community for their steady support from before launch until now. The feedback sent during Early Access is immensely helpful to development, and we will continue building a better game based on it."
Taeseok Jang, Head of Global Publishing at Krafton, said, "We believe the community's strong support, built on Unknown Worlds' Open Development philosophy, led to a high vote count". He added, "Krafton plans to continue investing in the sustained growth of the Subnautica franchise to meet community expectations."
More details on Subnautica 2 can be found on its official website, Steam page, Discord channel, and other platforms.
