Subnautica 2's Voices from Beyond videos are giving us a much more detailed look at the story than we first thought

Short, animated videos have been appearing on the Subnautica YouTube channel, mysteriously titled ‘Voices from Beyond’. Set within the Subnautica universe, there are five videos in the series, with the latest now drawing to its disastrous conclusion, and potentially being a springboard for where we jump off. The first episode takes us to a snapshot of a scene of a mongolian dwelling on an alien planet, and it looks like something Lofi Girl would be proud of, complete with a messy bookcase, steaming mug of tea, and the sort of clutter that only true cosiness can justify. The books are full of hope and promise, with names like The Nomadic Life, The Business of Botany, and Surviving the Impossible. Honestly, I could just keep this on a loop for a while.

Through these videos, we’re slowly getting the bigger picture of what could be on the way in Subnautica 2, and each of the five episodes gradually spirals into devastation as our hopeful family – heard in the creaks of floorboards, baby gurgles, sips of tea, and quiet chatter – is overshadowed by the unavoidable bad news coming through the radio.

The Kharaa bacterium is rampaging through the land, and as people flee, the political climate only ramps up, and our family can be heard discussing their future and their dream of opening a free-range ranch. If this all sounds a bit familiar, Subnautica began after the events of an unsuccessful attempt to stop an outbreak of the deadly disease. Now the advancing bacterium is mutating, the family are left with the choice of joining Alterra’s Pioneer Program – offering travel on the Cicada spaceship heading towards a promising new planet, Zezura – or to stay put and wait for the arrival of the Frontiersmen to help stop the outbreak.

Once our family has weighed up their options, mother and daughter stay behind as the father ventures onto the Cicada in search of a new planet for them to lay down roots. As the mother and daughter live within the dishevelled house and ruins of their village, the drone of the radio splutters on, eventually capturing their attention amid reports that the Cicada has vanished.

In the latest and final video, titled ‘Mayday’, we listen to the distress call of the Cicada – which, after an ‘unscheduled phasegate transit’, has ended up in an uncontrolled descent. The radio delivers the chaotic call from a radio in what looks like an underwater – and very rundown – station, only the sound of heavy breathing in the background, and the shadow of a large creature outside of the window accompanies it.

We’ve been here before… and it looks very much like the beginning of our hero’s journey. Will our aim be to save the souls aboard the Cicada? Or to continue the mission of finding a hospitable new home? We know from the Subnautica Steam page that we play as a Pioneer tasked with carrying on the ship’s mission – could this be the same ship that got us into this mess? Whatever lurks outside the underwater seabase, it looks like we’re heading out there.

You can find the rest of the Subnauctica 2 Voices From Beyond videos can be found on the game’s official YouTube channel ahead of the Subnautica 2 release date, which we’ve been waiting for for a long time.