Quick answer
Subnautica 2 is built as a single-player survival game that can also be played online with up to three friends. The Buddy System update makes a group dive easier to coordinate: it adds cross-platform proximity voice chat, player revives, direct item trading, and Tracking Tags. The most useful approach is to decide who will explore, build, and carry key supplies before leaving a base—not to treat those additions as a substitute for preparation.
The update is part of Early Access, so confirm that everyone is using the intended current build before organizing a long session. The official Steam store page describes co-op as optional and supports a group of four players total.
What the Buddy System update adds to co-op
Unknown Worlds released Early Access 1.2, Buddy System, on August 19, 2026. Its official patch notes confirm four changes that matter most when friends share an underwater expedition.
| Feature | What it does | Practical use |
|---|---|---|
| Proximity voice chat | Players become harder to hear as they move farther apart. It can be set to always on, push to talk, or always off. | Agree on a voice setting before a deep run, then regroup before important decisions. |
| Player revives | A downed player can be revived before reprinting; a revived player keeps their equipment and receives a small amount of oxygen. | A nearby teammate can attempt a recovery instead of immediately accepting a reprint. |
| Player trading | Players can directly exchange inventory items. | Hand a needed tool, resource, or supply to the player who can use it rather than making an unnecessary return trip. |
| Tracking Tags | A Tag can go in a carryable, such as a locker, as a short-range beacon. Carrying one during reprinting also increases black-box range. | Mark a portable supply cache or keep one in the expedition kit for recovery context. |
The patch also adds character options and emotes, plus client-focused base-building improvements. Those are useful quality-of-life changes, but they do not establish a universal role system, a guaranteed safe route, or a fixed resource plan for every group.
Set up the session before the first deep dive
The game is still in active development. Before leaving the starting area, make these checks together.
1. Confirm the build and keep mods out of troubleshooting
If one player has a problem joining, loading, or interacting with the world, first confirm that the group is using the intended current version. Unknown Worlds says updates are delivered automatically through Steam, although restarting Steam may be necessary if an update does not appear.
If any player uses mods, remove or disable them while testing an issue. The developer’s hotfix guidance specifically warns that outdated community mods can cause crashes or unexpected behavior after a game update. That is a troubleshooting precaution, not a claim that every mod is incompatible forever.
Avoid moving a long-running save to the Experimental branch just to test a feature. The official Experimental-branch notice says its saves are separate from the main build and cannot be imported or exported between versions. Treat it as an opt-in preview, not the default home for a shared progression save.
2. Choose a simple job split
The game does not require named classes. Still, a light division of attention helps a new group avoid all pursuing the same task:
- One player watches objectives and the route back.
- One player carries the next crafting or construction priority.
- One player watches oxygen, food, water, and nearby threats.
- A fourth player, if present, scouts and stays within practical voice range.
These are suggestions, not prescribed builds. Rotate them if needed.
3. Agree on a turnaround rule
Before heading into an unfamiliar biome, decide what will make the group return: a low shared supply level, a completed scan target, a lost route marker, or a player who needs to reprint. This keeps a revive from becoming a reason to press farther into danger with too little oxygen.
How to use the new co-op tools well
Keep proximity chat meaningful
Proximity chat is deliberately distance-sensitive. Use it for local callouts—an opening, a resource, a creature, or a change of direction—then regroup when the conversation needs a decision. If a group prefers a quieter dive, push to talk or always off are supported settings; the patch notes do not require a particular configuration.
Players planning to split up should use an additional agreed communication method. The official notes confirm cross-platform proximity voice chat, but they do not turn it into a guarantee that distant teammates can coordinate through every connection or platform scenario.
Treat a revive as a recovery window, not a reset button
When a teammate goes down, the update lets another player revive them before they reprint. The revived player keeps their equipment and gets some oxygen, so a close teammate may prevent an immediate recovery trip. If the rescue would place another diver in the same danger—or the group has already lost its bearings—reprinting can still be the safer call.
Do not invent a fixed revive timer, range, or ideal rescue distance. Those values are not established in the official update notes used for this guide, and they can change during Early Access.
Trade deliberately and tag portable supplies
Direct trading is most useful when it has a purpose. Give the scanner user the component they need, move building material to the player at the base, or pass a recovery supply to the diver who will remain exposed. It is less useful to constantly shuffle every item between inventories; maintain a shared plan for what stays in the base, vehicle, and each diver’s pack.
Tracking Tags add a practical way to remember a carryable cache at short range. Put one in a locker only when the locker itself has a clear job, such as holding materials for a nearby build. A Tag is not evidence that the cache is globally visible, permanent, or safe from every risk; the official description calls it a short-range beacon.
Early Access limits to remember
Unknown Worlds describes Subnautica 2 as an Early Access title whose world, creatures, craftables, narrative, tools, and vehicles will continue to expand. Bugs and performance issues are also explicitly possible. That matters for a co-op guide: a good coordination habit is more durable than a brittle walkthrough built around one patch.
The sources checked for this article confirm optional online co-op for up to three friends and the Buddy System features listed above. They do not establish exact hosting-menu steps, private-server support, cross-play matchmaking rules, a universal progression route, or permanent balance values. Use the current in-game interface for those details and recheck the official notes after a material update.
A co-op checklist for the next session
- Confirm that each player is on the intended current build.
- Keep mods disabled while diagnosing an update-related problem.
- Pick a voice-chat setting and a regroup point.
- Assign a short-term goal and a turnaround rule.
- Carry only the supplies needed for that goal; use direct trading when a handoff solves a real problem.
- Use a Tracking Tag for a purposeful portable cache, not as a replacement for navigation.
- Decide whether a revive is safe before attempting it.
- Keep Experimental saves separate from a shared main-branch progression save.
For a current overview of recent changes, review the official Buddy System patch notes before a group returns to the game. GameSpot’s current guides index was part of the guide-source scan that identified the fresh player question; official Unknown Worlds and Steam sources are the basis for the factual mechanics above.
