Subnautica 2 Won’t Let You Kill Fish—But Stuns Are Finally an Option

One of Subnautica 2’s core design rules has long been that you can’t kill the creatures and leviathans roaming its deep waters. The idea is simple: if you could just shoot everything with an overpowered underwater weapon, the game’s tension and dread would lose a big chunk of what makes it distinctive.

Still, a slice of the community keeps asking for a kill option. That question shows up often when Unknown Worlds collects feedback, even though the studio has repeatedly emphasized that Subnautica is not built around fighting or killing living things.

Subnautica 2 Now Has Stun Animations

Nothing changes in the “no killing” department, but the upcoming Early Access version 1.1 is adding clearer stun visuals to help the game communicate what your actions are doing. The “Adaptive Measures” update specifically enhances how the Survival Multi-Tool and the Sonic Resonator deliver their effects.

Quick facts

• Early Access 1.1 adds more animations for stunning creatures.
• The update is part of “Adaptive Measures.”
• Stun “combat-like” feedback is aimed at the Survival Multi-Tool.
• The Sonic Resonator gains clearer stun states for creatures.
• Subnautica 2 still does not allow killing creatures.
• A mod already exists that enables killing.
• Subnautica 2 is available in Early Access on Steam.

Creative director Anthony Gallegos explains the intent behind the changes: when you use the Survival Multi-Tool to stun something, you should see a noticeable reaction before the creature bolts away. In his words, it’s meant to let players observe and understand the impact they’re having.

These additions are primarily about visual clarity. Gallegos frames the behavior as a “flinch,” and says the team focused on animation work so the stun result is more obvious—essentially telling you, in plain terms, that your deterrence actually landed.

Unknown Worlds remains committed to making Subnautica 2 a non-lethal survival experience, which is exactly why there’s already a mod circulating that lets players kill creatures anyway. The official direction, however, stays focused on mitigation rather than combat.

He also highlights the Sonic Resonator changes: multiple creatures now have stun states, so when you hit them with the device, they should visibly signal that they’ve been stunned. The goal is to help players feel the kind of creature “mitigation” the developers want them to experience, which has been a major theme in community feedback.

Practically speaking, that means you’ll no longer be guessing whether your actions worked while creatures scramble away. The update isn’t a dramatic reinvention, but readable feedback matters a lot for retention—players don’t like when their inputs feel inconsistent or like they’re producing random outcomes.

Outside of gameplay, development appears to be continuing despite a high-profile legal dispute involving Krafton and Unknown Worlds’ co-founders. A judge ordered that one co-founder, Ted Gill, be reinstated as CEO, but Krafton and Gill later reached a settlement in which he would resign in exchange for compensation.

Subnautica 2 is currently available in Early Access on Steam.