Patrick Schooley

Subnautica 2 devs say "go play Sons of the Forest" if you don't like its lack of violence. The game focuses on underwater exploration, and you cannot kill most creatures. On the official Discord, one player asked why killing is impossible in SN2 as it makes no sense. Level designer Artyom O’Rielly replied, “This is not a killing game, so go play Sons of the Forest if you want to kill.” Another developer said, “The team discusses this a lot inside the studio and may let players catch small fish for food, but large creatures will stay safe so the game feels right.” This idea comes from the first Subnautica, as the team wants players to discover things, feel wonder, and live with ocean life instead of fighting it. A fan-made mod already lets players kill creatures, and the studio is reading all feedback. It plans to add better ways to scare off creatures but will not add weapons. Early access is expected to last up to 3 years.

Fun fact: If hantavirus ever spread globally like COVID, its 35-40% death rate would be catastrophic. COVID was under 1% and still killed over 7 million people worldwide.