Once Human sails into five ocean regions with its biggest free expansion yet

Building a shelter is already a challenge in a hostile survival world. Isles of Abyss makes that task considerably more complicated by moving the player's base onto an ocean filled with storms, monsters and supernatural threats.

Starry Studio's largest announced free expansion for Once Human introduces a naval survival scenario spanning five regions. What begins as a modest raft can eventually become an enormous mobile fortress.

The ocean is alive

The central threat in Isles of Abyss is the Sunken Lord, an enormous conscious entity whose body forms the ocean.

Its influence appears through monstrous lighthouses, spectral ships and dangerous environmental anomalies.

The Tower and the Voyagers are among the strange manifestations players will encounter as they venture farther from the starting island.

Haywire Zones create additional survival challenges. Their effects can interfere with visibility, temperature, sanity and resource consumption.

Preparing an expedition requires understanding those conditions rather than simply choosing the shortest route across the water.

Sea creatures bring their own hazards. Sharks can pursue survivors, while giant squid are capable of grabbing ships and immobilizing them with their tentacles.

The environment therefore becomes an active opponent, requiring suitable equipment and careful navigation.

Build a mobile fortress instead of a static base

The expansion allows players to construct vessels ranging from simple wooden rafts to elaborate sea fortresses.

Possible designs include conventional pirate ships, industrial platforms, futuristic carriers and more unconventional floating constructions.

A vessel can serve as transportation, a workshop, a storage base and a platform for heavy naval weapons.

This introduces a different approach to base-building. Instead of repeatedly returning to a fixed location, players can move their production facilities alongside the expedition.

Cooperative groups can also organize multiple ships into fleets, distributing combat, transport and support functions among their vessels.

Five regions and underwater exploration

Players begin on an initial island and can explore the remaining four regions in their preferred order.

The archipelago includes tropical coastlines, colder environments, submerged ruins and distinct ecological systems.

Underwater exploration offers opportunities to gather specialized resources, discover lost structures and hunt aquatic creatures.

The progression system connects land and sea. Materials gathered on islands support naval technology, while ocean resources improve terrestrial equipment and bases.

This arrangement gives players reasons to alternate between sailing, diving and traditional exploration.

Cooperative fleets face powerful enemies

Major battles introduce opponents whose attacks involve multiple mechanics and weak points.

Calamity Towers provide increasingly demanding challenges. Players must destroy specific tentacles, coordinate attacks and react to enemy support abilities.

Naval artillery is important for destroying fortified structures and creating openings.

The final encounter with the Sunken Lord is tied to server purification progression.

The developers describe encounters featuring tentacle attacks, supporting enemies and dangerous environments that gradually restrict safe movement.

The intended emphasis is on coordinated crew behavior rather than individual firepower alone.

A PvE scenario with distinct progression phases

Starry Studio describes a main scenario cycle lasting approximately 21 days before a resting stage.

The first phase lasts roughly five to ten days depending on server progression, followed by an eleven-day second phase.

Existing players can register for the new scenario through the game's selection system. New players must first complete character creation and the introductory experience.

This structure distinguishes Isles of Abyss from a conventional permanent map expansion.

A free update that changes the survival formula

Isles of Abyss is a free expansion for Once Human on supported platforms, including PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and mobile devices.

The developers also support cross-platform multiplayer, making it possible for groups using different devices to explore together.

Its most important new feature is not simply a collection of marine enemies. By combining mobile construction, naval combat and interconnected progression systems, the expansion changes the relationship between the player and the world.

The ocean is no longer a boundary separating areas of land. It is now the central environment around which the entire survival experience is organized.