If 2025 was a year defined by hit indie games, then 2026 is, at least so far, proving to be defined by hit early access titles. Slay the Spire 2 kicked things off, followed by Windrose, and now it's Subnautica 2 picking up the torch and running straight into the ocean with it. According to a new report from Alinea Analytics, after Unknown Worlds' passed the two million sales mark in less than a day, its early access sequel went on to pass 4 million copies sold less than a week after launch, bringing in $100 million in revenue.
Its meteoric rise even makes it the fastest-selling game on Steam in 2026 so far based on its first five days on the market, according to Alinea Analytics. It's selling three times faster than Crimson Desert, close to twice as fast as Resident Evil Requiem, and 1.4x faster than the aforementioned Slay the Spire 2.
Also, the report notes that pretty much all of these sales come from Steam, while the Xbox version has accounted for less than 100K copies. That's not at all surprising, considering the Subnautica community already mostly existed on Steam, and the fact that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers were able to play Subnautica 2 through their subscription, so they didn't need to go out and buy it to play it.
This success is also not surprising considering the fact that Subnautica 2 reportedly had upwards of 5.5 million wishlists before it launched, though it's worth remembering, as the report points out, that wishlists do not equal sales.
Overall, it looks like Subnautica 2 will land as one of the best-selling games of 2026, even in its early access state. That's not to say it won't face its own struggles. Unknown Worlds has already published a long letter to players about some major fixes coming in response to outcries from players to add more direct methods of combat to defend against predatory fish.
While Unknown Worlds isn't going to give players a direct method of killing fish since the studio firmly believes a mechanic like that goes against one of the game's core tenets, it does have several balance tweaks planned for both the effectiveness of mitigation tools and the aggression of the more violent sea creatures.
But even if Subnautica 2 starts to slow down from here, it seems pretty clear with its early success that Krafton will have to pay Unknown Worlds that $250 million bonus that started a massive legal battle between Unknown Worlds' co-founders and Krafton.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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