Credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
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Subnautica 2 Buddy System Update Adds Proximity Chat, Revives and Trading
August 21, 2026·3 min read
Subnautica 2 has made playing with friends much easier with its new Buddy System update. Early Access Version 1.2 launched on August 19 with proximity voice chat, player revives, direct item trading, emotes, and other changes aimed specifically at multiplayer groups.
Several of the additions came directly from community feedback. Rather than expanding the map or adding another major creature, Buddy System focuses on small problems that can interrupt a co-op expedition. These include sharing supplies and helping a teammate who goes down far from a base.
Cross-platform voice chat is now built into multiplayer, with hosts able to choose between Global and Proximity modes. Global chat keeps everyone connected regardless of where they are, while Proximity Chat gradually makes another player harder to hear as they swim farther away.
Voice chat can be left always on, switched to push to talk, or disabled. Unknown Worlds has also added five emotes: Wave, Clap, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, and Frustrated. They give players a simple way to communicate when they do not want to use voice chat.
Players can now revive a downed teammate before they reprint at their assigned Biobed. Anyone successfully revived keeps their equipment and returns with a small amount of oxygen, which can save a group from cutting an expedition short after one player goes down.
Downed players are not forced to wait for help. They can still choose to reprint immediately if their teammates cannot safely reach them.
Players can interact directly with another person to exchange inventory items instead of relying on containers or dropping resources into the environment. Unknown Worlds marked the feature as another change requested by the community.
Buddy System introduces Tracking Tags that can be placed inside carryable objects such as lockers and used as short-range beacons. Carrying one when reprinting also increases the range at which a player's black box can be located, making lost equipment easier to recover after a failed trip.
Base building received multiple smaller improvements alongside the multiplayer work. Placement now includes alignment guide lines, the game lists objects blocking construction, and Move mode has been improved for multiplayer clients. The Feedback Resonator now stuns creatures instead of making them flee, while Sonic Resonator stuns have been extended to 10 seconds.
The update also adds Jegna and Grace as character customization options, along with two new color schemes.
Unknown Worlds has also shared another look at the upcoming Early Access 2 update. The larger content drop will add new areas, biomes, creatures, resources, tools, vehicles, and the next chapter of the story.
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Subnautica 2 is an underwater survival adventure set on an all-new alien world, developed by Unknown Worlds. Play alone or with friends in 4-player co-op. Adapt to survive by building custom bases and crafting tools. Explore the unknown to uncover the mysteries hidden within the
Released
May 14, 2026
Developer
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Publisher
Unknown Worlds Entertainment
