Submarine survival sim Barotrauma enters Early Access next month

Barotrauma, which is a bit like FTL with giant sea monsters, will enter Early Access on June 5, developers FakeFish and Undertow Games have announced.

You control one member of a submarine crew exploring the depths of Europa, a moon of Jupiter. You'll be mining resources, battling off hideous monsters and trying to repair your ship when it inevitably breaks. You can play it singleplayer with bots filling the other crew roles, but the meat of the game will be in multiplayer, where you'll work with friends or online strangers to survive.

Andy's preview from earlier this week is a good place to start if you want to know more: as he says, it could create some amazing stories if the devs get it right, and the creation tools—which let you create ships, missions and monsters—look robust.

The Early Access release date was accompanied by a new trailer, at the top of this pose, which runs through the game's features in detail. Some of the footage looks choppy, which is worrying, but hopefully the devs can sort out the frame rate before release. 

Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play. 

Latest in RPG
kingdom come: deliverance 2 henry looks confused
'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts
The Huntress holding a bloody spear.
The biggest update since Path of Exile 2's early access launch is coming next week, bringing a new class and a bunch of endgame changes
Key art for the Ranger class in Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good'
Wuk Lamat, a character in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, stares in an unimpressed manner.
'I can't really say what they were thinking' says whistleblowing modder, as Final Fantasy 14's attempt to thwart stalkers falls terribly short of the mark
Raidou Kuzonoha and pals, looking like they've about to drop the most fire single of the 1930s
Raidou Remastered is finally bringing the historical Shin Megami Tensei supernatural sleuth spinoff to PC this June
Greedfall 2
Greedfall 2 aims to turn around a disastrous early access launch with a combat overhaul and a big new boat
Latest in News
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'
A witch riding a broom sails past a Fish and Chips shop.
Cozy gamers rejoice: Witchbrook finally has a release window, and yes, you can fly around on a broom with your friends
starcraft 2 face
StarCraft fans taunted by the announcement of a new StarCraft... board game
kingdom come: deliverance 2 henry looks confused
'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts
SUQIAN, CHINA - OCTOBER 6, 2024 - Illustration Tencent's plan to buy Ubisoft, Suqian, Jiangsu province, China, October 6, 2024. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ubisoft and Tencent are forming a new company that will take control of its most successful franchises: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six