Starry Studio’s largest free update trades dry land for a hostile, living ocean on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and mobile.
Starry Studio has launched Isles of Abyss, the largest free expansion in Once Human history, and it is now live on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and mobile. The update takes survivors out to sea, where the ocean itself is the threat: a giant, sentient organism called The Sunken Lord. Lonely lighthouses watch through the fog, and wandering ghost ships drift through the gloom. Additional launch bundles can be claimed via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks.
🎧 Fleet co-op works best when you can hear your crew. A gaming headset with a clear microphone makes coordinating cannon fire much easier.
Surviving a Sentient Sea
After learning the basics of seamanship in the starting plains, players face four marine sectors, each built on a closed loop where every region turns its own hazard into a resource. You collect the anomaly itself to craft the tech that lets you survive it.
- Mist of Deceit: Steals your vision.
- Schwarze Flut: Drains sanity.
- Time Rain: Corrodes gear, but speeds up crop growth.
- Skyfire: Volcanic meteor storms.
Two more threats shape the journey:
- Towers of Calamity: Each region is guarded by a biomechanical lighthouse with glowing tentacles. Crews must combine naval cannons and firearms to sever its weak points and topple it, which unlocks higher crafting tiers and the next region. In Phase 2, the towers mutate into deadlier Abyssal Lighthouses.
- Ghost ships: Five distinctive wrecks prowl the mist. You can cripple their propulsion with broadsides, board them and defeat corrupted mariners to plunder rare blueprints and modules.
One Server, One War
Isles of Abyss runs on a 21-day, two-phase cycle that needs the whole server to progress.
- Phase 1: The faster players conquer the five regions and the Towers of Calamity, the sooner Phase 2 begins.
- Phase 2: Random Corruption Zones appear, along with bosses like the Doom Owl.
- The shared bar: Every purged anomaly feeds a server-wide progress bar, rallying the community to awaken The Sunken Lord.
- The raid: Once awake, it unlocks a four-player co-op raid, where squads breach the leviathan’s hide and fight through its internal chambers to strike at its heart.
Build Your Floating Fortress
Ship crafting goes well beyond rudders, anchors and sails. A parallel oceanic tech tree lets you grow your vessel step by step:
- Propulsion: From canvas sails to fuel and electric propellers.
- Weapons: Tiered cannons and harpoon turrets.
- Utilities: Automated fishing nets, smelters, generators and workbenches mounted on deck, turning your ship into a self-sustaining mobile fortress.
Fleet Co-Op lets cross-platform squads combine roles to overcome ocean crises, bombard the Towers of Calamity and take on endgame raids together. You can also capture Duet, the first environment-manipulating Deviant, which shifts musical movements to change weather and wind direction for better sailing.
🎮 Playing on console or PC? A wireless controller is a comfortable option for long sessions at sea.
Events and the Green Game Jam
The update also brings events and a real-world initiative:
- Halloween Meets the Abyss: A limited-time festival with exclusive login cosmetics, candy-craving anomalies and mutant pumpkin buffs.
- Green Game Jam 2027: Once Human is the first confirmed game of the annual environmental initiative run by Playing for the Planet and facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme.
- Mr. Wish’s Driftpost: Running from October 21 to November 20 on Discord, it invites players to read real-life stories of resilience from other players each week and send their own out to sea. Heartfelt stories earn in-game rewards.
Isles of Abyss is available for free on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and mobile. You can find Once Human on Steam and the Epic Games Store, and on the official website.
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