Subnautica is often regarded as one of the premier examples in PC gaming of how to introduce VR support to a title that was originally developed without VR in mind at all. Everything from the sound design, visual smoothness, and head tracking are excellent and provide a serious sense of presence. You spend most of your time submerged in the ocean as you explore and craft things so the sensation of wearing “goggles” on your face only adds to the realism.
Granted, Subnautica only has keyboard and mouse or gamepad support (no motion controllers) but VR is still arguably the very best way to experience it. This week, the brand new standalone expansion dubbed Below Zero hit Steam Early Access for $19.99 and while the reception is very positive so far it’s missing one major feature: VR support.
You see, VR was added very late in the original game’s development cycle by popular demand and it’s just not in the project scope for the expansion. According to a developer on the Steam forums, they don’t think they have the time or resources to do VR justice for the add-on:
“Sadly we don’t think we’ll be able to do VR justice. Not because we don’t love VR (we do) or all own multiple headsets (we do)….We wanted to do a better job with SN1 but time and availability of people was difficult. We just don’t want people having a bad experience in VR for Below Zero, so we’re likely not doing it unless we can find the time. Making the game itself is the top priority.”
Maybe if people request the feature enough they’ll change their minds but as of now it seems pretty unlikely that Below Zero will have VR support. For more details on the expansion and the base game itself check out the official website and read our full review of Subnautica here.
Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below!
Editor’s Note: Correction added to clarify this is a standalone expansion, not DLC for the main game.
