The New Scenario: Deviation Arrives
Starry Studio’s Once Human just dropped one of its biggest updates yet. Version 2.1.4, released on September 24, 2025, opened Early Access to a brand-new scenario called Deviation: Survive, Capture, Preserve. This mode introduces new ways for the players to interact with Deviations. While once confined to the backpack or territory, now they can be studied, trapped, and fought. Players can craft capture grenades, build a team of three deviations, and test their squad in NPC arenas or in live PvP battles. As this is a scenario, you will need to create a new character, or move an existing character, onto a Deviated Secure server.
The update also brought in Fusion, a system that lets you merge Deviations, or even combine them with animals or furniture, to create strange new hybrids. This function is available in scenarios where you can build a Fusion Pod. You cannot currently merge Deviations in Eternaland, because there is no option to build the pod there. Many players have thousands of Deviations stored in E-land, so this limitation has a major impact on how the feature can be used. If you want to see the pod get added to Eternaland make sure to give that feedback to Starry on their social media channels and during game surveys.
With the new love and attention Deviations are getting, there is no surprise that Starry is cooking up something with Palworld.
The Palworld Crossover: What We Know
That “something” is the Palworld crossover, revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2025. On October 30, Pals from Pocketpair’s hit game will arrive in Once Human. The event includes a special crossover island that mixes Palworld’s bright biomes with Once Human’s gritty setting. Is this the map that we currently have for Deviated Secure, or is it something else? You can never be 100% certain with Once Human patches, but my personal belief is the map is the one we are currently on as it has the gyms in place for the challenges.
Previous press releases indicated that players will be able to transform into Pals using event items, which gives them a new way to explore and fight. So far, three Pals (Cattiva, Chillet, and Chillet Ignis) have been confirmed, with more teased. Best of all, the crossover Pals will be free to unlock, not stuck behind a paywall. For fans of both games, it is an easy invitation to jump in.
The Risk Behind the Hype
On the surface, this looks like a perfect collaboration. Once Human gets attention, Palworld reaches a new audience, and players enjoy seeing two survival games collide. But there is risk hiding under all the hype.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have already sued Pocketpair in Japan, claiming Palworld copies Pokémon’s creature systems. They even secured new patents that cover how monsters are summoned into battle, which gives them a stronger legal tool to go after anything that looks too close. That is where the danger lies. If the courts side with Nintendo, the fallout will not just be fines. Judges can issue injunctions that block updates, force the removal of features, or even ban content region by region. For Once Human players, that could mean losing access to Pals mid-event or seeing the new island stripped of its crossover content. For Starry, it could mean pouring months of development into a feature that has to be legally erased.
The China Factor
Part of Starry’s confidence may come from geography. Starry and NetEase are based in China, where enforcement of foreign copyrights and patents is inconsistent. On paper, China is part of global agreements that say it must protect foreign rights. In practice, lawsuits brought by foreign companies often move slowly, result in small payouts, or stall in the courts. That reality gives Chinese developers more freedom to push boundaries when their core audience is domestic.
The flip side is that this shield does not extend beyond China’s borders. Nintendo’s lawsuits are already active in Japan, where courts are far stricter and patent cases are taken seriously. If Pocketpair loses in Tokyo, Once Human’s Palworld content could be pulled into the same legal net. That could trigger takedowns or blocks in Japan, the U.S., or Europe, leaving the Chinese servers intact but cutting off global players. The result would be a fractured community, with some regions enjoying the full crossover while others get left with an empty shell.
Smart Play or Taunting the Dragon?
So, is this crossover a clever move or is it poking the bear? From one angle, it is smart. The event builds hype, drives free press, and ties directly into the new creature capture and fusion systems Starry just rolled out. Free Pals also make it easy for curious players to test it out without risk.
From another angle, it is a gamble. Nintendo has already shown it is ready to fight over patents, and by teaming with Palworld, Starry and NetEase could be painting a giant target on their backs. But maybe that is the point. Sometimes studios stir controversy on purpose, as a way to signal ambition and prove they belong on the same stage as industry giants. If the crossover goes smoothly, it may mark a turning point where developers stop backing away from old IP giants and start claiming their own space in the monster-battle genre. If it does not, Once Human could become a case study in overconfidence, remembered more for the fight it picked than the event it built.
Either way, this crossover puts Once Human at the center of one of the biggest debates in modern gaming: who really owns the right to summon, capture, and battle with fantastical creatures?