Subnautica 2 leaves Planet 4546B behind. The sequel takes place on an entirely new alien world, with its own ecosystems, biomes, and creatures that have no direct connection to the locations or fauna from the first game or Below Zero.
The new world, not 4546B
The shift away from 4546B was confirmed when publisher Krafton described the sequel as set on "an entirely new alien planet" in its Q4 2023 earnings release. Developer Unknown Worlds has since reinforced that framing across multiple updates, with later communications specifying the setting as a previously unseen moon.
Characters, locations, creatures, and vehicles from earlier entries do not carry over. That means no Peepers, no Reaper Leviathans, no Seamoth, and no Prawn Suit. The biology, geography, and tech you encounter are built from scratch for this world.
What is known about the setting
The story places you among a group of colonists called Pioneers. Driven from home by ongoing conflict, you travel aboard the Alterra colony ship CICADA toward a new life. Something goes wrong during the journey, the ship's AI insists the mission must continue, and you end up stranded on the surface of an unfamiliar ocean world.
Timeline-wise, the events unfold sometime after both Subnautica: Below Zero and the older Natural Selection lineage that Unknown Worlds began with. The world itself is oceanic, with biomes that have been teased in concept art and dev vlogs, including thermal spires, plateaus, and a "Graveyard" region.
| Detail | Status |
|---|---|
| Setting type | All-new alien moon |
| Planet 4546B | Not the location |
| Returning creatures or vehicles | None |
| Story timeline | After Below Zero |
| Player role | Stranded Pioneer from the CICADA colony ship |
| Antagonistic force | The ship's AI pushing the mission forward |
About the "Zezura" name floating around
Short-form videos and fan posts have circulated a planet name, often spelled "Zezura," tied to Subnautica 2. Unknown Worlds has not confirmed this name in any official blog post, dev vlog, store description, or support article. The official Subnautica support page simply describes the location as "an all-new alien world" with unique ecosystems, and the most recent in-universe materials refer to it as an unknown moon.
Why the change of planet matters for gameplay
Switching worlds gives the team a clean slate for biology and progression. The Tadpole submersible is the early traversal vehicle for this setting, and creatures revealed so far, including the Collector Leviathan, the Waterslug, and smaller fauna nicknamed Hammerhead, Halfmoon, Marrowbreach, and Nibbler Mango, are all native to this new ocean rather than reskins of older species.
Base building, scanning, oxygen management, and the loop of pushing deeper into hostile waters all return, but the resources, blueprints, and threats are tied to this new world's rules. The narrative hook is also different: instead of investigating a crash on a quarantined planet, you are colonists whose arrival has gone sideways, with the ship's AI as an unsettling presence driving the plot.
Where to verify the official setting
The clearest official statement on the location comes from Unknown Worlds' own support site, which directly addresses whether the game takes place on the same planet as before.
For ongoing reveals about biomes, fauna, and lore tied to the new world, Unknown Worlds' dev vlogs and the Voices from Beyond audio series are the primary official channels. Anything more specific than "an all-new alien moon," including a confirmed planet name, has not been published through those channels yet.