Subnautica aims to elicit a feeling of experiencing the unknown: A sense that you are exploring an untouched world, not knowing how far, or how deep you can go. The underwater environment will invite you to construct submarines and develop your equipment in order to reach its far flung and diverse corners. Decisions you make about vessel layout, capabilities and structure will affect your ability to navigate hazards and enter the domains of creatures; the likes of which your imagination has never conceived of.

After crash landing on an alien ocean world, the only way to go is down. Subnautica's oceans range from sun drenched shallow coral reefs to treacherous deep-sea trenches. Manage your oxygen supply as you explore Kelp Forests, plateaus, reefs, and winding cave systems. The water teems with life: Some of it helpful, much of it harmful.

After waking up in your Life Pod, the clock is ticking to find water, food, and to develop the equipment you need to explore. Collect resources from the ocean around you. Craft knives, lights, diving gear and personal water craft. Venture deeper and further form to find rarer resources, allowing you to craft more advanced items.

Early Access is a nucleus around which a better, bigger, and more fun game can form. Lots of the core elements of Subnautica gameplay are already in place. Over time the world will grow larger, deeper and more striking, creatures more diverse and intelligent, loot, crafting and vehicle construction more comprehensive, the story more fleshed out, and ecosystems richer and more vibrant.

Large submarines, new unique life forms, and fantastic environments are all in production and will be introduced to Subnautica Early Access in updates.

The ocean teams with life: Use the ecosystem to help you. Lure and distract a threatening creature with a fresh fish, or simply swim as fast as you can to avoid gnashing jaws of roaming predators.

As the sun goes down, the predators come out. The ocean is unforgiving of those caught unawares in the darkness. Areas that are safe to explore during the day become treacherous at night, but also reveal a beauty that those who hide from the darkness will never see.

The Subnautica sea-floor is presented using a dynamic voxel terrain system. Dig caves to hide, store loot, or short-circuit cave systems. Impacts from vehicles, or even exploding creatures, will change the way the world looks.

Cave systems wind below the sea bed, from dark claustrophobic passages to caverns lit by bioluminescent life. Explore the world below the ocean floor, but watch your oxygen levels, and take care to avoid the threats lurking in the darkness.

Subnautica is currently available on Steam Early Access for $19.99.