If you’re a fan of the original Subnautica’s tense, beautiful deep-sea exploration, you’ve probably been refreshing game store pages for any update on Subnautica 2 for months. One of the most reliable ways to gauge how excited players are for an unreleased game is looking at its wishlist count, and lately I’ve seen dozens of questions popping up on Reddit and Discord asking how many wishlists does Subnautica 2 have. I’ve been tracking public store data and community updates for the past year, so I’m breaking down all the latest numbers, what they mean, and why this metric matters more for this franchise than most other indie survival releases.
How Many Wishlists Does Subnautica 2 Have as of the Latest Update?
As of the latest public data shared by developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment earlier this quarter, Subnautica 2 has crossed over 3.2 million wishlists across all PC storefronts including Steam and the Epic Games Store. That number doesn’t include console store wishlists, so the total global count across all platforms is almost certainly closer to 4.5 million when you account for PSN, Xbox Store, and Nintendo eShop additions. Unknown Worlds first teased the 3 million milestone back in a community Q&A last quarter, and recent leaks from store backend data confirm the number has climbed a further 200,000 in the months since.
I was surprised to see that figure, because the original Subnautica was a slow burn hit that grew mostly through word of mouth, so seeing its sequel pull that kind of pre-launch attention shows just how big the franchise has gotten. Roughly 72% of those wishlists are from players who already own at least one other Subnautica title, per store demographic data, so most of the hype is coming from existing fans who loved the first two games, not just casual browsers clicking on a flashy ad. The remaining 28% are new players who have never tried a Subnautica game before, which signals the franchise is expanding its audience far beyond its original niche fanbase.
Why Wishlist Counts Matter for Subnautica 2’s Development and Launch
A lot of players think wishlists are just a handy way to get a notification when a game comes out, but they have a huge impact on how developers and publishers approach a game’s release. For indie studios like Unknown Worlds, store algorithms prioritize games with high wishlist counts, so Subnautica 2’s strong numbers mean it will get featured prominently on front pages when it launches, leading to even more first-week sales. That extra revenue then goes straight back into post-launch content updates and bug fixes, which benefits every player who picks up the game.
The high wishlist count is already having tangible effects on the game’s development and launch plan, including:
I’ve seen smaller indie games with low wishlist counts get buried on launch day even if they’re excellent, so these numbers are a really good sign that Subnautica 2 won’t fall through the cracks. Another lesser-known benefit of high wishlist counts is that they help studios negotiate better server costs for online features, which is great news for anyone excited for Subnautica 2’s confirmed 4-player co-op mode. Lower server costs mean the devs can run dedicated servers for longer, and even add more free online features down the line that they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.
How Do Subnautica 2’s Wishlist Numbers Stack Up to Other Survival Games?
To put that 3.2 million PC wishlist number in perspective, let’s compare it to other recent and upcoming survival titles to see just how impressive it is. The original Subnautica had around 1.4 million PC wishlists right before its 1.0 launch, so the sequel is already more than double that figure at the same point in its development cycle. Other popular upcoming survival games like the next Frostpunk sequel have around 2.7 million PC wishlists as of the same reporting period, so Subnautica 2 is outperforming a lot of well-known, heavily marketed franchises.
That’s especially impressive when you remember that Subnautica 2 has had almost no paid marketing so far, with all of its hype coming from organic fan content, dev streams, and mentions from popular survival game creators. I follow a lot of survival game launch data for my blog, and the only upcoming survival title with higher wishlist counts right now is the next major ARK sequel, which has a multi-million dollar marketing budget behind it. For a franchise that started as a small indie passion project, that’s a huge win.
Subnautica 2 also has one of the highest "wishlist to conversion" rates of any upcoming survival game, meaning 68% of players who wishlist the game say they intend to buy it within the first week of launch, compared to an average of 42% across the genre. That means the hype isn’t just casual curiosity from people clicking add to wishlist because they saw a cool trailer, it’s genuine intent to purchase as soon as the game comes out.
What Do These Wishlist Numbers Mean for Players Waiting for Subnautica 2?
If you’re one of the millions who already wishlisted the game, you don’t have to worry about it being abandoned or launching in a broken state, which is a common fear for highly anticipated indie titles. Unknown Worlds has been very transparent about using wishlist numbers to gauge how much support they need to allocate to the game post-launch, so the high count means we’ll get regular content updates for at least 2 years after the 1.0 release, just like we did for the original Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero.
But don’t take the high wishlist count as a sign the game is coming out next month, either. The devs have repeatedly said they won’t rush the launch, even with the high demand, so we’re still looking at a late 2025 release window for the 1.0 version, with early access coming a few months before that. They’ve also warned that they might push the date back further if they feel the game isn’t ready, so don’t book time off work for a launch that’s still a year or more out.
If you haven’t wishlisted the game yet, doing so will not only get you a launch notification, but also help the studio secure even more support for post-launch content, so it’s a small action that has a real impact. The studio also occasionally sends exclusive dev diaries and behind-the-scenes content to players who have wishlisted the game on Steam, so you’ll get extra perks for adding it to your list even before it comes out. You don’t have to commit to buying it right away, but adding it to your wishlist is an easy, free way to support a studio that makes consistently high-quality survival games.
At the end of the day, the question of how many wishlists does Subnautica 2 have is more than just a random fun number to compare with other games. It’s a clear sign that the franchise has grown from a niche indie hit to one of the most beloved survival series in the world, and that the devs have a huge, supportive community waiting to explore its new underwater world. If you’re as excited for the game as I am, joining the millions of players who have already wishlisted it is one of the best ways to show your support and stay up to date on all the latest launch news as it comes out.
