Despite numerous controversies, Subnautica 2 is currently the most wishlisted game on Steam with millions of PC gamers awaiting the survival game’s release.
Beating out major AAA releases including Forza Horizon 6 and Resident Evil Requiem, Subnautica 2 has significantly more wishlists on Steam compared to second and third place. While wishlists don’t always turn into concrete purchases, it seems that the aquatic survival game is going to be a massive hit on launch.
This is all via video game analytics firm Alinea Analytics who revealed that Subnautica 2 currently boasts 3.8 million wishlists on Steam. It’s worth noting that the game will also be launching in early access on Xbox Series consoles with a PlayStation release likely occurring once the game is finished.
Alinea also explains that the original Subnatuica sold 15 million copies across all platforms with the game’s expansion, Below Zero, selling 5 million. Steam is the primary platform for the series with the majority of the fanbase present on Valve’s service.
For comparison, second place in the list of most wishlisted games is Forza Horizon 6 which has 2.6 million wishlists and has already sold 220,000 copies, “generating about $13 million in revenue”. Resident Evil Requiem, the third most wishlisted game, has 2.5 million wishlists on Steam.
Subnautica 2’s wishlist success comes despite massive controversies surrounding the project. Last year, publisher Krafton replaced the development studio’s CEO and co-founders during development with a later lawsuit alleging the publisher did so months before they were due to pay the team a bonus of up to $250 million that would’ve been reached if the game launched in early access.
In a statement to fans, co-founder Charlie Cleveland said: “Suing a multi-billion dollar company in a painful, public and possibly protracted way was certainly not on my bucket list. But this needs to be made right. Subnautica has been my life’s work and I would never willingly abandon it or the amazing team that has poured their hearts into it.”
A post on the Subnautica subreddit with over 60,000 upvotes from fans urged players not to buy Subnautica 2 on release. However, judging by the massive wishlist numbers for the sequel, it seems that the upcoming sequel will still be a massive hit when it launches later in 2026.
