For a long time, Once Human got by with PC and mobile, but that changed at the end of August 2026: the game officially arrived on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S as well. If you’re not sure what Once Human runs on today, how playing across platforms works and what you need to download, this overview sorts it out for you. It’s based on the developers’ fresh official FAQ for the console release, so you won’t find guesswork here, just what Starry Studio has confirmed itself.
Consoles: PS5 and Xbox since 25 August 2026
The console version launched on 25 August 2026 at 11:00 (PT) for North America and gradually opened for South America, Europe, Japan, South Korea and the Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan region too. Supported consoles are PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X|S. The older console generation (PS4, Xbox One) isn’t mentioned in the sources.
On consoles, just like on PC and mobile, the game is free, including all gameplay content. The only things you pay for are cosmetics and the Battle Pass, which don’t affect your character’s power. The developers explicitly call it a non-P2W model in the FAQ. You don’t need PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass Core either; subscribers get extra cosmetic bonuses, but you can play without them.
The install isn’t small. The client is roughly 80 GB on PlayStation and about 100 GB on Xbox, and it downloads in parts, so you don’t have to wait for the whole package at once. Pre-download opened 48 hours before launch, but on PlayStation only for players who had bought the pre-order bundle.
As for controls, it’s worth mentioning that the consoles support keyboard and mouse as well as custom key bindings, you can turn on HDR, switch between Quality and Performance mode and adjust controller vibration strength. On consoles, the game is available in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
Crossplay and cross-progression: what works and what doesn’t
This is the question most people ask, so here are the specifics: since the console version launched, full crossplay works between PC, mobile and consoles. Players can add friends, team up and play together across platforms, and the same applies between the consoles themselves, so PS5 and Xbox players can happily play together on the same server.
Cross-progression works through account linking. If you already play Once Human on PC or mobile, you can link your account with a console in advance on the web (you’ll find the link for this in the in-game account settings) or directly in the Settings – Account – Link Account menu. Once linked, you continue with the same character no matter which device you’re holding. For new players, linking isn’t mandatory, but the developers recommend it because it makes switching devices easier later.
One thing to watch out for: linking accounts isn’t the same as merging characters. If both accounts you want to connect have their own characters in progress, the system makes you pick just one, and the characters from the other account are lost. That’s why the game has protection for accounts where the character is older than 30 days, so this doesn’t happen by mistake. Likewise, one PSN or Xbox account can only be linked to one game account, and you can’t be logged into the same game account on two platforms at the same time: logging in on a new device logs you out of the previous one.
Crossplay has a limit too: there are so-called console-exclusive servers, which you’ll recognize by the “Console” prefix in their name. Only console players can get onto those. PC and mobile players can view the characters of friends who play there, but can’t join themselves. Regular, unmarked servers, on the other hand, are fully cross-platform and anyone can play on them regardless of device. Cross-platform play also only works within one region: players from North America and Asia won’t meet on the same server, because each region runs on its own data centers for connection speed.
If you played the console beta, don’t count on your character carrying over to the live version, because it doesn’t transfer from the test. Only selected items such as Starchrom or active cosmetics carry over, through a special events page after launch; you can claim them until 25 August 2027.
Mobile version: Android and iOS
Once Human runs on mobile on both Android and iOS alongside the PC version. The game didn’t come to mobile as a spin-off version after launch; mobile is one of the original platforms right next to Steam. Both mobile versions get updates on the same day as PC and consoles, just with a smaller download size. For example, the September update 3.0.5 was a download of around 1.7 GB on both Android and iOS, while the PC and console versions downloaded far more.
Thanks to account linking, the same cross-progression works between mobile and the other platforms as with consoles: whatever you build on mobile, you’ll find on PC or console after logging in with the same account. The official sources for the console release don’t go into detailed differences in touchscreen controls (HUD customization, gestures, performance settings for weaker phones).
PC: Steam and system requirements
On PC, Once Human is available through Steam. In fact, all the official news this article draws on is published by the developers as Steam Community Announcements for the game with appid 2139460. The free-to-play model and the same rules on paid content apply here too; no platform gets an advantage in the form of faster progression for money.
The system requirements aren’t harsh at all. The game targets older setups too, because it also has to run on phones. These are the official requirements from the game’s Steam page:
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 64bit | Windows 10 64bit |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4460 | Intel Core i7-7700 |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GTX 750 Ti 4 GB / Radeon RX 550 | GTX 1060 6 GB / Radeon RX 580 / Intel ARC A380 |
| DirectX | 11 | 12 |
| Storage | 100 GB, ideally on an SSD | |
Two things stand out. First, those 100 GB: that’s the toughest requirement in the whole table, and on a smaller SSD the game will take a sizable chunk of space. Second, the Snapdragon X and X2 Elite processors that Steam lists next to Intel: the game officially caters to laptops with ARM chips as well, which isn’t a given for a survival game this size.
Servers and regions
Once Human divides its world into so-called scenarios. Each one is essentially a separate game variant with its own rules and story, with multiple servers running inside it. The main scenarios include Manibus (Novice) for newcomers, regular Manibus, survival in extreme weather in The Way of Winter, co-op fighting against enemies in Endless Dream, hunting and collecting Deviants in Deviation: Survive, Capture, Preserve, and two PvP scenarios: team battles for territory in Evolution’s Call and faction rivalry in Prismverse’s Clash. On top of that, there’s a separate PvP mode, RaidZone, with its own resource and combat settings, which also has its own exclusive servers on consoles in casual, standard and hardcore variants.
New servers don’t open continuously but on a schedule: for North America, Europe and Southeast Asia it’s usually every Saturday at 8:00, for South America, Japan, South Korea and the HK/MO/TW region on the first and fifteenth day of the month. The sign-up window for a new server closes 24 hours before it opens, so you can’t get into your preferred slot at the last minute. When a scenario ends, you have a choice: stay on the same server (after a 14-day rest phase it merges with that scenario’s permanent server), sign up for a new scenario, or retreat to Eternaland and let things settle before you decide on your next step. None of this costs you progress; resources and gear are simply moved according to the rules.
FAQ
Yes. The console version is free to play just like PC and mobile, and all gameplay content is available without paying. You only pay for cosmetics and the Battle Pass, which don’t give you an advantage in combat.
Yes, PS5 and Xbox players play together on the same servers without restrictions, as long as they’re regular, cross-platform servers. The only exception is servers marked as console-exclusive, where the same rules apply to both consoles.
The game and the world are the same, because there’s cross-progression between platforms: whatever you do on one platform, you’ll find on the other after logging in with a linked account. The controls are naturally adapted to the touchscreen, but the official materials for the console release don’t go into the details.
No. The game itself is free even without a subscription. PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass Core only add extra cosmetic bonus rewards.
Yes, if you link your account. You can link it in advance on the web or directly in the account settings in the game. Just keep in mind that if both accounts you’re linking have their own characters in progress, you have to pick just one, and the characters from the other account are lost.
About 80 GB on PlayStation and around 100 GB on Xbox. It downloads in parts, so you don’t have to wait for the complete package before you start playing.
Yes, these are the so-called console-exclusive servers with the u0022Consoleu0022 prefix in their name. Only console players can play on them; PC and mobile players can only view characters there, not join.
Information verified as of 10 September 2026; the current game version is 3.0.5. Once Human changes quickly, so something may shift here and there. Keep an eye on the official announcements if you’re planning to switch platforms. Before you start playing, take a look at the first steps for beginners, the overview of servers and multiplayer or the current patch notes for version 3.0.5. The full list of Once Human articles is in the main game guide.