Calling all divers: Valve has opened nominations for the 2018 Steam Awards.

No, we're not here to beg you to vote for Subnautica. We're here to ask you to vote for anyone - Any game you are genuinely impressed by, excited about, enamoured with. Perhaps a game that isn't a massive-budget mega-studio game.

Why are we asking you to do this? Subnautica was a big game for us. Before Subnautica, we had struggled from month to month. We know what it's like to be a small independent developer, unsure of whether we will exist in future.

With your Steam Awards vote, you have the power to lift a developer out of the ocean depths, just as you lifted us by purchasing, reviewing, and enjoying Subnautica.

Take a look through your Steam library and think about what games truly moved you this year. Maybe there's a gem in there that deserves attention - Mash that nominate button!

With love from your diving developers,

- Unknown Worlds

Since, release, we've been blown away by the response to Subnautica. We're thrilled that so many of you have enjoyed exploring planet 4546B, and we want to create more underwater adventures for you to enjoy.

To do that, we've decided to build a stand-alone expansion to Subnautica, called Subnautica Below Zero. Set in an ice-bound region of planet 4546B, after the events of the original game, Below Zero will offer a new chapter in the Subnautica universe.

We would like to show you some of Below Zero's concepts, and share our plans for release.



In the coming months, we will release an unfinished, early version of Below Zero in Early Access. We will then begin releasing consistent content updates, carefully crafting the game based on your feedback - Just like the original Subnautica.

We don't want to specify an exact date, or even a vague date, because setting dates never ends well for anyone. We can never predict how long development will take, and we don't want to set any expectations we can't be sure we will meet.



The concept of Below Zero is still developing. We are keeping the core gameplay mechanics, such as base building and open-ended exploration. We are also exploring new ones, such as thermal management, and more voiced dialogue at the core of the plot. We're still in early stages and nothing is set in ice. These features may change prior to, and during, Early Access.

To be notified the moment Below Zero is available in Steam Early Access, subscribe to the Subnautica Development Mailing List. We can't wait to get your feedback on a new underwater adventure.

- Unknown Worlds

Update 12 Jun 2018 - the WDC sale has ended, thank you everyone who participated

You saved the underwater world of planet 4546B. Here on Earth, our own oceans need your help. This weekend, we are joining forces with Valve and the ocean charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). 15% of Unknown Worlds’ profits from the sales of Subnautica will go to WDC.

4546B is a world covered in water. Earth is not so different: 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water. Startlingly, they contain around 90% of the Earth’s biomass. That means that there is far more life under the water than above it: Out of sight, and often out of mind.

Agricultural runoff, drag-net fishing, deforestation, plastic waste, even acidification via increased carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Earth’s oceans are taking damage from multiple sources. Life below the waves is dying, shrinking, and disappearing.

We made a game that takes you to an alien world, a world that needs your help. You saved that world. This weekend, we ask that you think about ways in which you can help to save the Earth.


WDC is a global organisation that works to:

• Create healthy seas, including tackling plastic pollution in our oceans
  
• Put an end to hunting and commercial whaling
  
• Tackle bycatch, an accidental entanglement in fishing gear, which kills an estimated 300,000 whales and dolphins every year
  
• End the cruel practice of keeping whales and dolphins in captivity

You can find out more at http://whales.org and follow WDC on twitter at @WHALES_org. In the United States, WDC is registered under charity number 1014705.

Since launch, we have been prototyping potential Subnautica expansions, working on Xbox One launch, and working on tidying up some of the more glaring bugs in the Steam 1.0 release.

Today we released an update that includes a bunch of that tidying up. Here's the list of changes:

• Main menu button texts update correctly when switching languages
  
• In-game menu button text colors fixed
  
• F8 panel fully translated
  
• Cyclops flooding leak indicators now clearly outside of the hull
  
• Controller navigation and selection boxes fixed
  
• Builder menu usable with swapped mouse buttons
  
• Lifepod fabricator lighting fixed
  
• Cyclops hatch door collider fixed
  
• Disallow poster placement where wall lockers are disallowed
  
• Non-localized text removed from color customization terminal
  
• Physics bugs with ion cubes and precursor keys fixed
  
• End-game achievements now trigger
  
• Lost river creatures now immune to brine
  
• Player mask now correctly lit
  
• Can not despawn Aurora by building a base next to it anymore
  
• Seamoth hatch animation fixed
  
• Changing quality settings in game reminds player to restart the game
  
• Time capsule UI simplyfied
  
• Pathfinder tool recipe adjusted
  
• Entering exosuit while sprinting fixed
  
• Fixed saved game rocket not being ready for launch
  
• Reduced hitching when rebuilding a base
  
• Fixed moonpool ladders not working properly when cinematics have been skipped
  
• Time capsule fixes for various platforms
  
• Added option to turn off subtitles.
  
• Updated TimeCapsuleTitleFormat
  
• Fixed base interiors looking incorrect when viewed from inside a vehicle or another base
  
• Fixed Cyclops interior not looking correct when viewed from a vehicle
  
• Fixed low LOD of certain base windows
  
• Re-caching of entire world (to help with hitching a little)
  
• Options menu screen resolution fix
  
• Fixed localization of deconstruction errors
  
• Added TimeCapsuleTitleFormat to English.json
  
• Translator credits update
  
• Translation updates

Enjoy!


In the early days of Subnautica development, updates did not have names. They had numbers, like Update 8. We eventually switched to names, like Seamoth Update, because they were punchier.

Under the hood the named updates continued to have numbers. Update 84 reverts to the old school: A Subnautica Update with no name.

- Hugh (UWE)

This post was edited to include additional changes pushed in a small update released just after Update 84. Together the two updates constitute Update 84.

Since launch, we have been prototyping potential Subnautica expansions, working on Xbox One launch, and working on tidying up some of the more glaring bugs in the Steam 1.0 release.

Today we released an update that includes a bunch of that tidying up. Here's the list of changes:

• Main menu button texts update correctly when switching languages
  
• In-game menu button text colors fixed
  
• F8 panel fully translated
  
• Cyclops flooding leak indicators now clearly outside of the hull
  
• Controller navigation and selection boxes fixed
  
• Builder menu usable with swapped mouse buttons
  
• Lifepod fabricator lighting fixed
  
• Cyclops hatch door collider fixed
  
• Disallow poster placement where wall lockers are disallowed
  
• Non-localized text removed from color customization terminal
  
• Physics bugs with ion cubes and precursor keys fixed
  
• End-game achievements now trigger
  
• Lost river creatures now immune to brine
  
• Player mask now correctly lit
  
• Can not despawn Aurora by building a base next to it anymore
  
• Seamoth hatch animation fixed
  
• Changing quality settings in game reminds player to restart the game
  
• Time capsule UI simplyfied
  
• Pathfinder tool recipe adjusted
  
• Entering exosuit while sprinting fixed
  
• Fixed saved game rocket not being ready for launch
  
• Reduced hitching when rebuilding a base
  
• Fixed moonpool ladders not working properly when cinematics have been skipped
  
• Time capsule fixes for various platforms
  
• Added option to turn off subtitles.
  
• Updated TimeCapsuleTitleFormat
  
• Fixed base interiors looking incorrect when viewed from inside a vehicle or another base
  
• Fixed Cyclops interior not looking correct when viewed from a vehicle
  
• Fixed low LOD of certain base windows
  
• Re-caching of entire world (to help with hitching a little)
  
• Options menu screen resolution fix
  
• Fixed localization of deconstruction errors
  
• Added TimeCapsuleTitleFormat to English.json
  
• Translator credits update
  
• Translation updates

Enjoy!


In the early days of Subnautica development, updates did not have names. They had numbers, like Update 8. We eventually switched to names, like Seamoth Update, because they were punchier.

Under the hood the named updates continued to have numbers. Update 84 reverts to the old school: A Subnautica Update with no name.

- Hugh (UWE)

This post was edited to include additional changes pushed in a small update released just after Update 84. Together the two updates constitute Update 84.

Subnautica has emerged from Early Access to launch on Steam. To celebrate, we have released a Cinematic Trailer that offers a glimpse of events on Planet 4546B before the crash of the Aurora starship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz2SNm8VguE

You can also catch the Cinematic Trailer on:

• Twitter
  
• Facebook

If you love Subnautica, please consider giving the Cinematic Trailer a 'like', 'share' or 'retweet' on YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook.

Thank you, and we hope you are enjoying the dive!

- Unknown Worlds

Subnautica has emerged from Early Access to launch on Steam. To celebrate, we have released a Cinematic Trailer that offers a glimpse of events on Planet 4546B before the crash of the Aurora starship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz2SNm8VguE

You can also catch the Cinematic Trailer on:

• Twitter
  
• Facebook

If you love Subnautica, please consider giving the Cinematic Trailer a 'like', 'share' or 'retweet' on YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook.

Thank you, and we hope you are enjoying the dive!

- Unknown Worlds

Get those eyeballs ready, Subnautica has received a massive graphics overhaul. This is the Eye Candy Update: Subnautica has never looked so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPMi0Zqfqow

A host of new graphics options are available in the main menu:

• Chromatic aberration
  
• Bloom
  
• Lens artefacts
  
• Dithering
  
• Motion blur
  
• Colour grading
  
• Depth of field

All together, these options revolutionise the way Subnautica looks. You can mix and match all the options, and adjust their intensity, to find a look that you like best.



Eye Candy isn’t just a pretty face. This update contains a disgusting quantity of bug fixes – Over 250 at last count. In particular, we think we have solved the perennial and infamous drifting lifepod problem.



Miners among you will be happy to hear that your life just go easier. When piloting the prawn, drilled resources will automatically be placed into your inventory.



One big graphics improvement is actually a bug-fix in disguise. Sun-shafts are now properly hidden by shadows. This used to be a big problem inside bases, particularly ones with long corridors.



Eye Candy is not just candy for your eyes: Your ears are also in for a treat. Abandoned bases now feature voice-overs from new voice actors. Have a listen, and learn about what happened to this underwater world.



Speaking of bases, the Scanner Room user-interface has received some serious TLC. It is much easier to use, and more powerful, and won’t show items that have been picked up.



Who likes stargazing? We do! Problem: When stars shine through planets, stargazing becomes weird. Stargazing in Subnautica is no longer weird: We’ve fixed up a bug that caused stars to shine through orbiting bodies and clouds.



The dive-reel has always been a little bit of an oddball item. The intention is to, like a real dive reel, lay a trail that a diver can use to retrace their path out of a confined space. Unfortunately, the reel hasn’t worked so well in practice. So we’ve replaced the cord with breadcrumbs of light. We’re still working on the final effects, but the gameplay change is here now.




Be notified the moment we release the next Subnautica Update, by subscribing to the Subnautica Development Newsletter and following @Subnautica on Twitter.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/Subnautica/

Get those eyeballs ready, Subnautica has received a massive graphics overhaul. This is the Eye Candy Update: Subnautica has never looked so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPMi0Zqfqow

A host of new graphics options are available in the main menu:

• Chromatic aberration
  
• Bloom
  
• Lens artefacts
  
• Dithering
  
• Motion blur
  
• Colour grading
  
• Depth of field

All together, these options revolutionise the way Subnautica looks. You can mix and match all the options, and adjust their intensity, to find a look that you like best.



Eye Candy isn’t just a pretty face. This update contains a disgusting quantity of bug fixes – Over 250 at last count. In particular, we think we have solved the perennial and infamous drifting lifepod problem.



Miners among you will be happy to hear that your life just go easier. When piloting the prawn, drilled resources will automatically be placed into your inventory.



One big graphics improvement is actually a bug-fix in disguise. Sun-shafts are now properly hidden by shadows. This used to be a big problem inside bases, particularly ones with long corridors.



Eye Candy is not just candy for your eyes: Your ears are also in for a treat. Abandoned bases now feature voice-overs from new voice actors. Have a listen, and learn about what happened to this underwater world.



Speaking of bases, the Scanner Room user-interface has received some serious TLC. It is much easier to use, and more powerful, and won’t show items that have been picked up.



Who likes stargazing? We do! Problem: When stars shine through planets, stargazing becomes weird. Stargazing in Subnautica is no longer weird: We’ve fixed up a bug that caused stars to shine through orbiting bodies and clouds.



The dive-reel has always been a little bit of an oddball item. The intention is to, like a real dive reel, lay a trail that a diver can use to retrace their path out of a confined space. Unfortunately, the reel hasn’t worked so well in practice. So we’ve replaced the cord with breadcrumbs of light. We’re still working on the final effects, but the gameplay change is here now.




Be notified the moment we release the next Subnautica Update, by subscribing to the Subnautica Development Newsletter and following @Subnautica on Twitter.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/Subnautica/

Prepare for love, cuddles, and tentacle high-fives: the Cuddlefish Update has been released on Steam!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PENv0CLQoSA

The Cuddle Fish is an adorable companion creature. You may find Cuddle Fish eggs hidden around the world. Those eggs can be incubated in an Alien Containment module, and will eventually hatch into a Cuddle Fish.

Right click on the Cuddle Fish to tell it to follow you on your adventures. Right click again to tell it to stay in one place. Left click to interact with the Cuddle Fish in various ways – It loves snacks!

The Cuddle Fish Update also includes upgrades to vehicle Head-Up-Displays (HUDs). The Seamoth, Prawn, and remotely operated cameras on both Cyclops and Scanner Room all have new HUDs.




Be notified the moment we release the next Subnautica Update, by subscribing to the Subnautica Development Newsletter and following @Subnautica on Twitter.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/Subnautica/