Starry Studio has locked in October 22, 2026 (October 21 in Pacific time) as the global release date for Isles of Abyss, a free expansion for Once Human that shifts the survival shooter's focus onto open water. The update lands simultaneously on PC, mobile, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with Xbox Game Pass subscribers getting access at launch alongside everyone else. Starry Studio is billing it as the largest single content drop the game has received since it launched in 2024.
Isles of Abyss centers on naval survival: players design and upgrade ships that double as mobile bases, crafting workshops, and weapons platforms, ranging from small scouting boats to large floating fortresses. The expansion spans five distinct sea regions built around island exploration and underwater resource gathering, and introduces new hazards specific to the ocean setting, including hostile lighthouses and "living islands" that behave as environmental threats rather than static scenery. Tying the new content together is The Sunken Lord, an ancient entity said to govern the expansion's toughest encounters beneath the waves. Progression on land, at sea, and underwater will run through the same core survival systems Once Human has used since launch, rather than a separate track, and the update carries full cross-play and cross-progression support across every listed platform.
Ahead of the full release, Starry Studio has already been testing the ocean scenario in public. The September 16 update, version 3.0.6, opened what the studio is calling the final Isles of Abyss Pioneer Test — a roughly 22-day trial run of the maritime scenario for players who signed up in advance, giving the team a last window to tune island exploration, weather systems, and enemy encounters before the scenario goes live for everyone in October.
That same 3.0.6 update also delivered a major rework for the Beastmaster archetype through a new Beast Riding system, letting players summon and mount tameable animals directly, with saddled or bareback riding and the ability to fight and use gadgets while mounted. The feature is rolling out in stages: Beastmasters are limited to one active summon through September 28, after which the cap rises to three. Separately, Starry Studio confirmed permanent-server merges for two long-running scenarios, The Way of Winter and Deviation: Survive, Capture, Preserve, consolidating population across regions including North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, while Manibus and Endless Dream remain unaffected for now.
With a second update already scheduled for September 28 to add free character customization options, the next several weeks are shaping up as a build-up to Isles of Abyss rather than a quiet patch cycle. For a game that built its identity on ever-shifting scenarios, a persistent naval frontier — and the console and mobile players it's designed to bring in — marks one of the more significant structural additions Once Human has made since its debut.