Is Subnautica Multiplayer? [How To Install & Play Co-Op With Friends]

Is Subnautica multiplayer mode available yet? You aren’t the only one wondering about this.

This open-world survival action-adventure game’s engaging storyline, beautiful alien environment, and challenging gameplay instantaneously hooks you into exploring its underwater world.

Quite naturally, gamers have been looking for a Subnautica multiplayer feature for co-op gameplay. Although the developers launched it as a single player game, there is a way to get around this limitation and enjoy it in co op mode.

That’s because an easily accessible third-party mod has come to the rescue of players demanding a multiplayer mode. You can use it to experience Subnautica in co op mode with others.

Don’t get us wrong — the original Subnautica without the multiplayer mode does offer an amazing experience. Requiring players to survive in a hostile alien underwater world, the game is challenging and fun to play even by yourself.

But the multiplayer mod brings more to the table, enhancing the gaming experience further. You can play the game with your friends and progress through it together.

Is Subnautica Multiplayer?

Although multiplayer games in the exploration-survival genre such as Ark have grown extremely popular, Subnautica does not support multiplayer gameplay. It is a single player game, which makes the survival aspect even more challenging.

Charlie Cleveland, the director of the game, did mention that while designing the early prototypes, the developers had planned to add a multiplayer mode. However, it was never a priority and likely won’t be available in the near future either.

While it is sad that you cannot play Subnautica multiplayer mode, at least in the original game, the developers have valid reasons behind not being able to provide this feature.

Once the game hit early access, they wanted to get the first version ready to launch as fast as possible. They would have had to spend years working on a Subnautica co op feature. This would have delayed the game’s release.

Unknown Worlds Entertainment also lacked the manpower to add multiplayer to the game while refining it and working on a sequel at the same time.

It would require them to dedicate an entire team to the task of adding the feature into the current version of the game. The alternative would be to build a whole new engine for the game from scratch.

How To Play Subnautica Multiplayer With Friends?

So how is Subnautica multiplayer compatible in any sense? Sunrunner77, a Nexus mods user, launched a special mod for it with the multiplayer feature.

As you might be aware, mods can add amazing aspects to games, and fans of all types of genres swear by them.

Known as Nitrox, the mod we’re talking about offers a Subnautica co op experience, where you can work with other players to tackle the challenges it presents. Needless to say, the mod has already gained great popularity.

The mod runs the multiplayer co-op functionality on a single server. Here’s how you can download this mod and play Subnautica in multiplayer mode:

• Download the Nitrox mod, either from their official website or the Nexus mods website.
• Once downloaded, unzip the file at the location where you want to store the launcher. Remember to not launch it until you have unzipped the file.
• The mod runs inside the Nitrox Run the launcher as administrator.
• Click on Options, select Change and click on the folder where you installed Subnautica.
• Once you have installed the Nitrox mod, you will find an invitation to set up a server. Other gamers using Nitrox can then join you on the server.
• Scroll down to the video link below for a detailed guide on how to set up your server and play in co-op mode with other Nitrox users.

The Nitrox multiplayer is an open source mod, constantly being refined by the community. Hence, people who play the game are contributing to the development and the improvement of the Nitrox mod to ensure a better gaining experience for all.

Is There An Official Mod?

If you are looking forward to enjoying Subnautica multiplayer, note that the game does not have an official mod. The Nitrox multiplayer mod is fan-made, created by users who loved the game and decided to add a co op mode to it. As for reliability, the mod is running just fine. There are some hiccups and bugs, as with any mod at an early stage. However, Team Nitrox and all the users contributing towards the mod are constantly working on fixing the issues and improving the mod.

Does Subnautica Below Zero Work With Multiplayer Mod?

After the great success of the first installment, the developers came up with a sequel — Subnautica: Below Zero. With the release of this new sequel, many gamers have been inquiring if it comes with the much-anticipated multiplayer feature.

Sadly, while the sequel does improve on the amazing underwater world adventures of the original Subnautica, it still doesn’t feature a co-op mode.

Additionally, the multiplayer mod doesn’t work with the sequel. Team Nitrox hasn’t given any indication of launching a mod for the sequel in the future either.

There’s still a lot of work to do on the current mod, and they are going to focus on refining that first.

What New Gameplay Is Available With Multiplayer?

With the Subnautica multiplayer mod, you may either create a server of your own and invite other players, or join an existing server.

The team working on it has added several features necessary for co-op games. Some of the notable aspects of the multiplayer gameplay include:

• The mod now has a chat feature, unlike the original game. Quite obviously, the game developers hadn’t provided this feature as they intended for the title to be single-player.
• You can build a base with other players, which definitely makes the task much easier and more fun.
• Subnautica’s world will react to players picking up any items or dropping anything. Even if players move a certain distance away from each other, it will maintain the environment.
• Unfortunately, players cannot get a voice chat feature in the mod. As this isn’t an official version of the game, there are major difficulties in incorporating voice chat.
• The Cyclops recognizes the presence of two passengers, and both players can operate it independently.

As the aforementioned mod is available only for PC, gamers playing on Xbox, PS5, or PS4 still cannot enjoy the multiplayer experience. However, Microsoft ecosystem sharing will help save your progress across PC and Xbox versions of the game.

The Nitrox mod is compatible with the official version of the game that’s available on Steam and Epic Games store. Hence, you can switch to PC to enjoy Subnautica co op without losing your progress in case you are an Xbox user.

Conclusion

Although the developers couldn’t add multiplayer while rushing to move on from the early access stage and release the game, the unofficial Subnautica multiplayer mod has your back.

Is Subnautica multiplayer mode ever gonna come out officially? It’s highly unlikely. If have any doubts about installing the Nitrox mod, you can watch this tutorial video to a get better idea.

Make sure to join Nitrox’s Discord channel where players actively take part in discussions to work on future updates and adjustments. You can always ask for help there if you have any trouble trying to play Subnautica on the single-server mod version.