Subnautica 2 dev thinks early access teams should worry less about adding features that are “very ugly, incomplete, or prototype”
Subnautica 2’s creative director Anthony Gallegos has shared Unknown Worlds’ philosophy on early access development, encouraging other studios to release features “as soon as possible” even when they’re rough around the edges. Speaking about the studio’s extensive experience with Steam early access, Gallegos exhorts developers to add new content and experiment with it in front of players rather than polishing everything behind closed doors.
The original Subnautica serves as proof-of-concept for this approach. Launching in 2014 shortly after Steam’s early access program went live, it became one of the program’s oldest success stories. Much of the final game’s defining qualities—including its pivot toward horror elements and the iconic Reaper Leviathan encounter—emerged from iterating with and listening to the early access community.
Gallegos acknowledges, however, that the early access landscape has shifted. The program’s early days were fundamentally different, with audiences more forgiving of unfinished content and bugs. Today’s early access environment presents different challenges and expectations, yet Unknown Worlds’ track record demonstrates that iterating openly with players can lead to better games when executed thoughtfully.