Once Human has launched Isles of Abyss, a free ocean expansion that turns a custom-built ship into transport, workshop, production line and weapons platform. The new PvE scenario is live on PC, mobile, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S with cross-play and cross-progression, and it changes progression more fundamentally than a new map would: an entire server must advance the scenario before its final boss opens.
New players can enter after character creation and the opening experience; existing characters can sign up from the scenario-selection screen. Everyone starts the scenario at maximum level, but the Cradle system is disabled and the rarity of craftable gear and active Mod attributes is tied to the new Tech track. Existing Blueprints and Mods carry over, so the reset is about rebuilding capability through exploration rather than deleting a collection.
Your ship replaces the fixed survival base
A starter raft can grow into a mobile territory assembled from hull, deck and facility pieces. Saved Design Layouts let players rebuild a vessel or share it with squadmates, while later propulsion moves from sails to fuel and electric systems. Cannons and harpoons cover combat; trawl nets, drilling wells, generators, smelters and workbenches move gathering and production onto the deck. That means a ship design is also a loadout: more industry can sustain a long voyage, while heavier weapons prepare a fleet for Towers of Calamity and roaming ghost ships.
The economy runs across three connected layers. Islands provide resources for naval technology, the sea supplies materials that improve land gear and bases, and underwater ruins add diving equipment, treasure and aquatic resources. Four regions beyond the starting coast impose a different hazard—vision-blocking Mist of Deceit, sanity-draining Black Tide, equipment-corroding Time Rain or meteor-heavy Skyfire—so protection recipes and ship facilities answer specific routes rather than serving as generic upgrades.
The Sunken Lord waits on the whole server
Isles of Abyss runs for roughly 21 days across two active phases and a rest stage. Phase I lasts about 5–10 days, shortening as purification advances; Phase II lasts 11 days. Players clear regions, Towers of Calamity and later Corruption Zones to fill a shared purification meter. Only at 100% does the entrance to The Sunken Lord rise, opening the four-player final raid through the creature’s interior. The useful consequence is that an individual squad cannot rush straight to the last encounter, even if its own ship and gear are ready.
Each server contains 12 worlds, and Starry Studio says a permanent Isles of Abyss server is expected on November 18 PT before the first batch closes. That date supersedes the November 12 estimate in the pre-launch dev blog. A separate Isles of Abyss: RaidZone map applies PvP rules: resources are scarcer, all entrants share one body of water, and a sunk ship can be restored from a saved blueprint but its stored supplies are not refunded. Players looking only for the cooperative story should choose the PvE scenario rather than RaidZone.
Claim the launch package before November 8, but expect rough water
Logging in after the update and before November 8 at 2:00 PM PT grants the SOCR – Cosmic Visitor Legendary Weapon Blueprint, Snowline Elite Vest Legendary Gear Blueprint, 10,000 Starchrom, a 30-day Meta Pass Trial Card and limited Howler weapon skins. Halloween Wonder Night runs from October 22 through November 11 in server time, with check-in rewards and task-based Blind Box openings. These are separate from paid shop crates and the first-purchase currency rebate listed in the same update notes.
The launch also carries four known issues that the studio said it was urgently fixing on October 22: some starter-island trees cannot be cut down, characters may lag or roll back while moving on a sailing ship, Riftwalker movement can make the enemy impossible to kill, and Walkman songs may play without sound. A first hotfix already addressed nine other defects, including difficult first-person ship climbing and two selection boxes granting the wrong Deviations. The ocean scenario is available now, but its headline vehicle is also attached to the most consequential unresolved launch bug.
