Unknown Worlds just dropped the Subnautica 2 Buddy System update today, August 19th. It’s the Early Access 1.2 patch, and it’s bringing proximity chat, player revives, emotes, and player trading into the game. I’ve been waiting for co-op to feel less like two people playing solo in the same ocean, and this looks like it might actually do that.
I’ll be honest: when I first saw “Buddy System,” I braced for a small quality-of-life patch. Instead, this is a proper multiplayer overhaul. Proximity chat alone changes everything about how you explore with a friend. And revives? Finally. Dying in Subnautica 2 has always felt punishing in a way that co-op made worse—you’re stuck watching your buddy swim around while you wait for a respawn. Now they can actually come get you. That’s the kind of change that makes me want to drag my friends back in.
What really stands out to me is how much of this came from community feedback. The patch notes mark several changes with a 🤿—the little diving mask emoji—to show what players asked for. Proximity chat, trading, base-building placement improvements, even an exploit fix for Metal Farms. It’s good to see a studio actually listening during Early Access instead of just saying they are.
What the Buddy System update actually adds
The headline feature is Proximity Voice Chat. As you and your co-op partner drift apart, you’ll hear each other less clearly. It’s not just an on/off toggle—distance matters. You can set it to always on, push to talk, or always off. That’s a small detail that makes a huge difference for immersion. I’ve played too many co-op survival games where voice chat is just a constant open mic, and it kills the tension. This could make Subnautica 2’s ocean actually feel lonely when you’re separated.
Player Revives are the other big one. If a player goes down, their buddy can revive them before they reprint. A revived player keeps their equipment and gets a small amount of oxygen back. But if you’d rather just respawn, you can choose to immediately reprint at your assigned Biobed. That’s a smart balance—revives are worth it because you keep your gear, but the option to skip the wait is still there.
Player Trading is exactly what it sounds like: you can directly exchange inventory items with another player. No more dropping things on the seafloor and hoping your friend picks them up before a Stalker does. Emotes are also in now—Wave, Clap, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, and Frustrated—selectable from a radial menu, usable in water or on land, and interruptible if you need to actually play the game.
There are also two new characters, Jegna and Grace, plus two new color schemes for character customization. And a new Tracking Tag item that you can place in carryables like lockers to act as a short-range beacon. If you have it in hand or inventory when reprinting, it increases your black box range. That’s a nice little exploration tool.
Beyond the co-op features, there’s a long list of fixes and tweaks. Bulletheads deal more damage but can now be dodged—sometimes. The Feedback Resonator now stuns creatures instead of making them flee, and the Sonic Resonator’s stun lasts 10 seconds. Base building got placement UI improvements with alignment guide lines, and clients in multiplayer should have a better time with Move mode. The Trashcan is finally functional as an actual trashcan, destroying items one by one after a five-second delay. And there are a ton of bug fixes, including one where the Collector Leviathan would do a 360 spin whenever it grabbed or threw a Tadpole. I wish I’d seen that before the fix.
Anything marked with a 🤿 indicates a change that came directly from community feedback!
What this means for co-op players
If you’ve been playing Subnautica 2 with friends, this is the update you’ve been waiting for. Proximity chat and revives turn co-op from a parallel solo experience into something actually social. You’ll need to stay close to communicate, which means you’ll explore together instead of splitting up to cover more ground. And when things go wrong—because they always go wrong—you can actually help each other instead of just watching a respawn timer.
I’m curious how the revive mechanic will change risk-taking. Before, dying meant losing your stuff and waiting to reprint. Now, if your buddy is nearby, you might push further into dangerous areas knowing they can bring you back. That could make the game more forgiving, but also more tense—you’re not just risking your own gear, you’re risking your friend’s time and oxygen too.
The community feedback markers are also a good sign for Early Access. Unknown Worlds is clearly reading the Nolt.io suggestions and actually implementing them. The base-building improvements and the Metal Farm exploit fix are things players have been asking about for a while. It makes me more confident that the full release will be shaped by what the community actually wants, not just what the developers think we want.
One thing I’ll be watching: how proximity chat performs in practice. Distance-based voice attenuation is great in theory, but if it’s too aggressive, you’ll just end up yelling at your friends or switching to Discord. The fact that you can set it to always on, push to talk, or off gives me hope they’ve thought about that. But I’ll need to actually play it to know.
Overall, this is a solid update. It’s not a new biome or a new vehicle, but it’s the kind of foundational change that makes everything else better. If you’ve been holding off on co-op, now’s the time to jump in. Just remember to stay close to your buddy—you never know when you’ll need a revive.
