4-Player Co-op
Subnautica 2 Multiplayer Guide
Cross-play, drop-in/drop-out and the four roles your team should split into to compress an 8-hour solo Day 1 into 2 hours.
How 4-player co-op works
- Up to 4 Players — form a team of up to four Pioneers in any single-player save. Drop-in / drop-out, no separate multiplayer slot.
- Cross-Platform — PC (Steam, Epic) + Xbox Series X|S play together at launch. PlayStation and Switch are not supported — see platform availability.
- Friend invites only — no public matchmaking. Invite via Steam, Epic, or Xbox party. Voice chat routes through your platform's native party.
- Optional — the game is built single-player-first. No story or content is locked behind multiplayer.
Role Splits
The four roles a smooth team uses
| Role | Primary Job | Recommended Gear | Priority Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quartermaster | Stays at base — refines materials, monitors power and oxygen, builds the Haul Chassis. | Repair Tool, Habitat Builder, Battery Charger | Multipurpose Room |
| Gatherer | Mines Titanium, Copper, Quartz and feeds the Quartermaster a steady supply. | Pickaxe Tool, Sonic Blaster, Standard O2 Tank | High-Capacity Tank |
| Scout | Pilots the Tadpole into deeper biomes, drops beacons and locates fragments. | Tadpole, Beacons, Scanner Module | Tadpole + Depth Module |
| Biologist | Manages food + water, researches DNA modifications, scans new fauna. | Survival Knife, Filtered Water Bottle, Stillsuit | DNA Modification Bench |
Trailer
See the team in action
Multiplayer-only hazards
Some predators behave differently when there are 2-4 Pioneers in the water:
Crashfish
Drawn to clustered movement. Spread out by ~20m when in shallow caves or expect chained explosions on your team.
Stalker
Steals tools from any player, not just the closest. Drop a metal salvage decoy before your Gatherer enters Kelp Forest.
Bobbit Worm Leviathan
Targets the loudest player — Quartermasters with Pickaxe Tools draw aggro most. The Sparse Plains is the most dangerous biome with 4 Pioneers.