Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 Adds Proximity Chat, Revives, and Emotes

Early Access update 1.2 — titled Buddy System — arrived for Subnautica 2 on August 19, 2026, as a free automatic download. The patch was authored by virtualdon and centers on multiplayer interaction, introducing several features flagged by the community (marked with a 🤿 in the official notes).

What changed

• Proximity Voice Chat scales audio with distance and offers always-on, push-to-talk, or always-off modes.
• Player Revives let teammates bring down players back before they reprint; revived players retain their equipment and recover a small amount of oxygen. Downed players may also choose to reprint immediately at their assigned Biobed.
• Emotes — Wave, Clap, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, and Frustrated — are accessible via a new radial menu, usable in water or on land.
• Player Trading has been added.
• Two new characters have been introduced (no further detail provided in the source).
• Tracking Tag can be placed inside carryables such as lockers to act as a short-range beacon; if held or in inventory during reprinting, it extends black box range.
• A ton of bug fixes are included, per the announcement.

Design Lead Anthony Gallegos discusses the changes in an accompanying Update Vlog linked from the announcement.

For players who dive in with others, 1.2 meaningfully closes the gap between Subnautica 2's survival systems and the social fabric needed to make cooperative play feel cohesive.