The Subnautica 2 developers are hiding teaser images in the first game’s time capsules

A time capsule is a boxful of objects from today’s world, buried or otherwise hidden away so that people from the future can rediscover and understand current Hot Trends such as wearing mismatched socks or electing washed-up businessmen with fascist tendencies. Unless, that is, it’s a time capsule in sci-fi ocean survival game Subnautica, in which case it contains: THE FUTURE. Developers Unknown Worlds have been sneaking pictures of the forthcoming Subnautica 2 into the original game’s time capsules, offering glimpses of its flora and fauna.

For context, you can build time capsules in Subnautica during the endgame, filling them with leftover inventory, messages and screenshots for other players to unearth in their own games by means of ye olde asymmetrical online. It turns out this is an ideal framework for teaser marketing. The above shot of some rainbow-edged critters was spotted earlier in the month (it’s been a while since I’ve played Subnautica, so I’m no longer confident about identifying the wildlife). The devs have coyly confirmed on Steam and Discord that it’s from the new game, which is slated to release in 2025. There are apparently more to discover. The Subnautica community are, as you’d expect, organising retrieval missions.

Here is what we know about Subnautica 2. It’s not a full-blown live service thingy with any battle pass or subscription nonsense, despite ambiguous language in publisher Krafton’s press materials, though it will receive continual updates. It’s a direct sequel to Subnautica, unlike 2021’s Below Zero spin-off. Here is one of many things I want: an alternative tech tree which is about symbiotic relationships with other creatures. Perhaps we could graft structures harmlessly to peaceful leviathans? Anyway, please sing out on here if you stumble on any portentous capsules in your game – I am hungrier for details than a Reaper is for Seamoths.