If you scroll Reddit right now, you’ll find threads like this:
“So many players have spent a lot of money on your game, and after every update you give more issues than new content. The loot crate isn’t content, it’s just more money thrown at you so you can design the next loot crate. Come on, fix the game.”
That’s not just one person’s gripe. It’s a common concern in any live-service title: are the devs actually fixing problems, or just stacking more monetization on top of shaky foundations?
So let’s step back and look at the full picture. What’s the actual state of Once Human right now?
Health of the Game from Launch Till Now
When Once Human hit Steam in July 2024, it exploded. Free-to-play launch, pulled in over 231,000 concurrent players, and cracked the top sellers chart that month. That number only reflects the Steam client, not NetEase’s own standalone launcher that many players around the world use. The true launch population was even larger.
In April 2025, they pulled the trigger on mobile. Global launch, iOS and Android, full cross-play. NetEase bragged that it hit #1 downloads in over 160 regions right out of the gate. Love them or hate them, those numbers are heavy.
What’s more important is that the game didn’t fall flat after the initial hype cycle. Even a year later, the Steam charts still show healthy activity. June 2025 averaged about 26,000 players a month with peaks around 51,000 concurrent, and July 2025 held steady at 46,000 peak concurrent players. The last 30 days are still pulling over 24,000 average players with nightly peaks in the 40,000s. For a survival MMO, those are strong retention numbers.
Bottom line: Once Human had the hype, it delivered, and more than a year later it’s not only surviving, it’s thriving.
Future on Console
The next stop is console. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series are officially on the roadmap with a release window set for 2026. If NetEase delivers, Once Human will be in rare territory as a survival MMO that covers PC, mobile, and console with full cross-progression. That casts a wide net, and if it holds, it puts Once Human in a league of its own as one of the few true cross-platform survival titles.
New Content Released
This game has not been standing still since launch. When Once Human dropped in July 2024, it came out swinging with a massive world, faction system, and survival sandbox core that set it apart from the usual early-access survival titles. Within the first months, they pushed critical hotfixes, server stability patches, and balance passes to keep that launch population engaged.
By fall 2024, Way of Winter had been released and some season content dropped. Halloween and winter brought themed content drops, cosmetics, and unique encounters, proving the team was ready to run the game like a true live service. That was followed by quality-of-life updates, bug clean-up, and early community feedback shaping the roadmap.
Heading into early 2025, the team turned the corner from launch support to new features. They introduced custom servers, giving players the freedom to control their own worlds, and began testing a class system, signaling that Once Human was going to evolve beyond just survival mechanics into a deeper RPG-style experience.
April 2025 was another major milestone with the global mobile launch on iOS and Android. Instead of being a watered-down port, it shipped with cross-play and cross-progression, letting mobile players drop into the same universe as PC survivors. That expansion alone showed the scope of NetEase’s ambition for the project.
Then came July 2025 and Version 2.0, the so-called “Annual Version.” This was more than a patch, it was a statement. It added Endless Dream, a massive new PvE mode with large-scale encounters. It teased RaidZone, a competitive spin-off mode to expand the PvP side of the game. It expanded storylines, added world content, and delivered meaningful updates that kept the community buzzing.
Add in the regular live-ops events, steady balance tuning, and ongoing quality-of-life improvements, and the pattern is obvious. Once Human is not just treading water. It is moving forward with real updates that expand both the scope and the reach of the game.
Once Human is not just surviving. It is thriving.
Monetization: Pretty Clean, but Players Are Watching
Money matters for all games to fund continued development, and Once Human is no exception. For Once Human the spend is cosmetics and passes. Starry Studio and NetEase use purely cosmetic monetization through direct purchases, RNG boxes, and a battle pass. Updates have been delivered without content paywalls, and the core game remains fully playable without paying. The team has publicly framed its approach as cosmetic only, which matches how the store and updates operate today.
The problem is that even when you are cosmetic only, you still need to keep your store aligned with your target audience. I cannot speak for the Chinese audience, but the Western audience has some pretty strong opinions on the cash shop.
“22 bucks for the cat set I’m passing on this game!”
If it was a few one-off comments on specifics cosmetics, or if Starry was doing high priced cosmetics occasionally that would be one thing, but as every player knows while the cash shop isn’t predatory in its tactics, its aggressive in its prices
“There’s no reason for the price of cosmetics in Once human to be this expensive other than greed.”
There is a real counter take in the community that focuses on the absence of pay to win. One Reddit comment sums it up:
“Skins don’t affect gameplay, devs need to eat, and without purchases, the game dies.”
Here is what that means in practical terms. Cosmetic items do not change stats or power. Core content is not locked behind a purchase. You can play the full loop without paying. Updates have arrived without content paywalls. Monetization exists, but it sits outside of gameplay advantage.
Price frustration still shows up because value is subjective. RNG boxes can feel risky, even when they only grant cosmetics. High sticker prices can feel tone deaf to long term players. Cross platform optics add fuel, since mobile games often push harder on monetization. None of that turns the game into pay to win by itself. It does set the stage for stronger reactions any time pricing lands wrong.
There are design choices that point in a healthier direction. Cosmetics carry across characters on the same account and region. Purchased base related cosmetics can be used in a small group setting when you have build permission, which spreads value inside friend circles. These touches make spending feel less isolated and more social.
Here is the line that matters. Pay to win would break trust fast. Stat boosts for cash would cross it. Locking core activities behind a pass would cross it. Cranking up grind to pressure purchases would cross it. Time limited power items would cross it. Cosmetic only spending with fair value does not cross it.
Here are smart moves that keep confidence high. Keep cosmetics cosmetic. Keep content updates free. Keep prices within reach for regular players. Keep RNG boxes optional with clear odds and reasonable pity logic. Keep some earnable paths for desirable cosmetics through regular play. Players accept monetization when it respects their time and leaves the playing field level.
Concern of Being a Mobile Product
Here is the big one. At Gamescom 2025, Once Human is being shown at the Huawei AppGallery booth. That is a mobile storefront, so the headline in Cologne reads as Once Human positioned as a mobile game. That has some PC players uneasy.
People see “mobile first” and assume PC will get sidelined or watered down. The truth is PC keeps getting updates, and console builds are in progress. Did this need to happen. Mobile accounted for roughly 55% of global video game revenue in 2024, which makes mobile a tempting honey pot for any publisher looking to scale.
The next six months will be important, to see if Starry and NetEase maintain this as a PC game as it moves to console, or if it somehow becomes a mobile game with a PC and console presence.
Conclusion
So where does that leave Once Human? Stronger than most survival launches we’ve seen. It set records on Steam, broke into the top charts on mobile, and has actually shipped major updates instead of going dark. Console is next, and that’s the real test of whether it can scale to AAA ambitions or end up bogged down by mobile compromises.
Right now, though, it’s clear: Once Human isn’t dying off. It’s thriving. The only question is what kind of game it wants to be two years from now.