Subnautica is an open-world underwater exploration game developed by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. In this game, you crashland on a certain alien world, planet 4546B, and you have to survive its harsh underwater wilderness by gathering resources and avoiding danger.
Subnautica was released in 2018 with an early access period lasting four years before that. Following this, an expansion titled Subnautica: Below Zero was launched in 2021. The game was always meant to be a single-player experience, but a lot of players have been wondering if they can play this game with their friends.
Does Subnautica have multiplayer capabilities?
The short answer to this question is no. Subnautica was always intended to be a single-player game due to the elements involved, such as mystery, peril, and fear seamlessly interwoven into the world of planet 4546B. These elements exist because the developers wanted to give players the intended experience of feeling like they are alone in this dangerous world, barely struggling to survive by themselves, like other games such as The Long Dark.
Subnautica and its expansion, Subnautica: Below Zero have no multiplayer elements, which means no local, co-op, or crossplay. This was a little disheartening to long-time fans of the Subnautica game because they were expecting Below Zero to add a multiplayer mode to supplement the solid single-player gameplay experience that Unknown Games has provided.
Despite fan consensus firmly behind a multiplayer mode, the decision to not include multiplayer is something we understand, but there is a way to play with friends that was not originally intended by the developers.
Alternate method to access multiplayer in Subnautica
This alternate method involves modding the game. Every time a game releases on PC, the modding community is hard at work to either fix some broken elements of the game, balance out other elements, or improve on the rest. The modding community has heard the pleas of Subnautica players everywhere by creating a mod that will allow players to come together to tackle the dangers of 4546B.
Look no further than the Nitrox mod, which is a free-to-download mod created by the modding community to turn that sublime single-player gameplay into a magnificent multiplayer experience. This mod allows you to play cross-platform across multiple versions of the game, be it Steam, Epic Games, or the Windows version. It has its own launcher and a community of players ready to help you get started.
If you are a supporter of modded games, then this is the solution to your multiplayer queries. If you would rather not use a modded version of the game, then it might be best to wait for Unknown Games’ new launch to be released imminently. But we know very little about it including the fact that it will be a turn-based, sci-fi game, so whether it will have multiplayer features or not is yet to be seen.
