Easter Eggs

Easter Eggs are hidden references to other games or pop culture.

Subnautica Easter Eggs

Natural Selection 2 Poster

The Natural Selection 2 Poster is a poster based on Unknown World Entertainment's game Natural Selection 2. It can be found inside two Wrecks located in the Grassy Plateaus, with a third in the Aurora. It can be placed inside any Seabase, and the Cyclops. There are many other objects from Natural Selection 2 in Subnautica as well. The poster has no story significance, and is considered a non-canon easter egg.

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  A Natural Selection 2 Poster found in Wreck 1.

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  A Natural Selection 2 Poster inside Wreck 2. (CANNOT be taken)

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  A Natural Selection 2 Poster located within Cabin 6 of the Aurora.

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  Natural Selection 2 Full Poster.

Arcade Gorge Toy

The Arcade Gorge Toy is a toy based on a creature, the Gorge, found within Unknown World Entertainment's game Natural Selection 2. The Gorge is one of the multiple playable aliens within Natural Selection 2. The model is taken directly from Natural Selection 2. It is unconfirmed if the toy has any lore significance.

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  The Arcade Gorge Toy, found inside the Living Quarters (Cabin 1).

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  An Arcade Gorge Toy with nothing special about it sitting on a Desk.

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  An Arcade Gorge Toy wearing a Cap and sitting on a Desk.

Star Trek

The line occasionally said by the PDA after activating either Data Terminal in the Quarantine Enforcement Platform, "Resistance Is Fertile," is a spoof on the Borg's famous line from Star Trek, "Resistance is futile." Shortly after the PDA says this, jazz music will start to play. This Easter Egg was added by Simon Chylinski after Scott Thunelius jokingly suggested the interaction.

A video of this can be found here: https://youtu.be/ac4wlJoTowE?t=44s

Obraxis Prime

When the Player fabricates the Survival Knife for the first time, the Dialogue mentions the planet Obraxis Prime. Scott "Obraxis" MacDonald is an animator who worked on Subnautica.

	Trigger	Dialogue
	Crafting a Survival Knife	"Weapons were removed from lifepod fabricators following the massacre on Obraxis Prime. The knife remains the only exception." File:KnifeVO.ogg

Strader VI

There is a Data Download mentioning the hive mind of Strader VI. Cory Strader is another Subnautica developer. The specific Data Download can be read below. It can also be found in-game inside the Aurora.

What Can We Learn From the Hive Mind of Strader VI?

<poem>How are the 'individuals' which make up a hive mind to be categorized? Are they merely dumb components of the larger, intelligent organism; or is the larger 'mind' merely a product of the independent organisms? Can it be both? We define organisms by their traits, but find invariably that these traits depend on those of their environment. The concept of a tadpole is meaningless without the concept of the frog it will develop into. The idea of a predator is empty without an understanding of its prey. This begs the question: if we define everything by reference to everything else, what are have we actually explained? An illustrative experiment was recently performed on the hive mind colony discovered on Strader VI. A device was placed outside the nest which would electrocute individuals approaching it. An ant colony would have lost many individuals before a basic danger signal was successfully communicated between them, resulting in 'learnt' avoidance of the device. Successful, but costly. The Strader VI colony quickly formed into two factions: - One attempted to move the device by brute force, sacrificing individuals as they did so - The second attempted to cover the device in sand. These two goals being mutually exclusive, a fight ensued. The first faction was beaten, in virtue of their reduced numbers. The device was safely buried, and the survivors called a truce. From the perspective of the individuals, this experience must have been horrific. From the perspective of the hive mind, a nagging problem had been overcome with the most effective solution. Which perspective is the 'correct' one? I suggest that it is neither. By attempting to fit such entities into our rigid set of concepts we are painting onto the world a false impression of concreteness and meaning, which is a reflection of our concepts of ourselves. We describe Strader VI individuals as 'attacking' one another, just as we describe microbes in the human body as doing the same. Yet the Strader colony, like the body, cannot be healthy as a whole without the 'aggressions' of its components. We describe neurons in the brain as being dumb, but brains as a whole as intelligent - but when an idea takes hold in the brain, and forces out inferior ones, do we describe this as an act of aggression? Do we mourn dead neurons? When a philosophy, or a technology takes hold in human society... when wars are fought over them and people die... is that rightly seen as being good, or evil? This is not to undermine the meaning of our existence. From where we stand, our existence is very serious indeed. But is our civilization, and our universe, really any different from the colony on Strader VI? Is intelligence something limited to things of flesh and blood? Or is the universe truly one giant intelligent system, and we but amoeba blowing self-important potholes in its surface? We would do well, as scientists, to remember that our goal is not to paint the world as we see it, but to see it as it truly is.</poem>

Source: Pick up Abandoned PDA in the Aurora

Donald Trump (China)

In the Soundtrack to the Sparse Reef, there is an audio clip featured of Donald Trump saying "China". Listen closely to the soundtrack at 1:18.

Listen to the soundtrack here

Starwhal

In the PDA dialogue for the Stasis Rifle as well as in one of Paul Torgal's journal entries, a creature called a "Starwhal" is briefly mentioned. "Farming Starwhal eggs" is also mentioned in the Captain's Log. This could be a possible reference to the game Starwhal where players must control flying narwhals with the goal to pierce each other's hearts with their horns.

Simon Chylinski

There is a rare chance after building the first grow bed that the PDA will replace Craig McGill with the name Simon Chylinski, the sound designer for the game. Interestingly, the subtitle still reads "Craig McGill".

Cyclops Greeting

There is a chance for the Cyclops AI to say: "You are the best captain on the planet, I'm not even squidding." when the Player has entered it, rather than its normal line. This refers to the Player being the only captain on the planet, and a pun on the word "kidding".

	Trigger	Dialogue
	A rare welcome message when boarding a Cyclops	"You are the best captain on the planet, I'm not even squiddin'." File:Cyclops Welcome3.ogg

Future Perfect

Two Alien Relics, the Alien Rifle and Doomsday Device, are reused assets from the game Future Perfect, another game made by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. The Alterra Corporation is in this game and several others as well. It is not known if this is simply an Easter egg or an attempt to connect two games.

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  The sixth Relic, a damaged doomsday device.

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  The seventh Relic, an alien weapon used to defend the facility.

CHBCLive

This easter egg is found in the PDA entry for the Translation Device. CHBCLive (吃喝不愁的Live) was a forum user who made Chinese translations since the farming update. He died battling gastric cancer before the game was completed, and this easter egg was added in his honor.

The PDA entry can be read below.

Translation Device
This device stores linguistic data from over 1,000 different languages. The core of the device may allow alien texts to be read and translated. Analysis of the onboard data reveals a number of ancient Earth languages, and the term 'CHBCLive' appears many times in the device's data. Its import is unclear. The device seems to be configured to translate into the designer's language - it will not work the other way around.

Neebs Gaming

Neebs Gaming is a popular Youtube Channel that did videos during early and Beta releases of Subnautica. Their channel is different from many in that it creates humorous storylines from existing games. In the release version of the game, the player receives a radio message from Alterra about having to meet the rescue ship half way. The person on the radio argues with the other main character from the series, Appsro, about what sandwich a co-worker should get for them from the deli. This was voiced by the Neebs Gaming team.

An Unusual Doll (Markiplier)

In Lifepod 7, a small Unusual Doll based off of the YouTuber Markiplier can be found and scanned. Doing so will unlock it as a buildable item, which can be placed in seabases with the Habitat Builder. When built, clicking it will play quotes from his series, as well as his intro, in a higher pitch tone.

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  The Doll as it is found in Lifepod 7.

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  The Doll in a seabase.

Subnautica: Below Zero Easter Eggs

Dirty Bean Water

Upon crafting a coffee machine, the PDA will state "Ah, the sweet scent of dirty bean water." this is a reference to a quote by a Youtuber Jacksepticeye, where he refers to coffee as dirty bean water.

Spy Pengling names

Upon Crafting a Spy Pengling, It will have 1 of 16 names. 4 of these names for the Spy Pengling are the names of the creators of the spy pengling's concept presentation creators, those being PengVee, PengBip, PengJack, and PenGrin, for Vee Caecus, BippityBop, Jack Tuson, and Dinofuzz respectively.