Launch time
Subnautica 2 Release Time
Times pulled from the Early Access announcement and the Steam countdown. If you only need one number, it is 08:00 PDT.
May 14, 2026 at 08:00 PDT. That is 15:00 UTC, 17:00 CEST, and rolls into May 15 00:00 in Japan. Not a midnight release in your local time, so do not stay up unless you are on the west coast.
Regional launch time table
| Region | Zone | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Time | PDT | May 14, 2026 | 08:00 |
| UTC | UTC | May 14, 2026 | 15:00 |
| Eastern Time | EDT | May 14, 2026 | 11:00 |
| United Kingdom | BST | May 14, 2026 | 16:00 |
| Central Europe | CEST | May 14, 2026 | 17:00 |
| Japan | JST | May 15, 2026 | 00:00 |
| Australia East | AEST | May 15, 2026 | 01:00 |
| China / Singapore | CST / SGT | May 14, 2026 | 23:00 |
Steam usually unlocks at the listed time. Platform rollouts on Epic, Xbox, and Game Pass can vary, so leave a buffer if you are doing a launch-day event.
What to settle before T-zero
Four things will eat your first hour if you leave them for launch day. Get them out of the way now.
- Pick the storefront. Steam, Epic, or Game Pass. The cheapest entry is Game Pass if you only want to try the EA build.
- Free up disk. 50 GB minimum, 60 GB if you want headroom for patches.
- Lock in your co-op group. Confirm everyone is on a compatible platform. PS5 and Switch players sit this one out.
- Bookmark the known-issues page. EA launches usually have a server or auth hiccup in the first 90 minutes.
Next steps once the clock hits zero
Where to go from timing into platform and first-session planning.