Summary
Once Humanhas received some major quality-of-life features, including a reworked Battle Pass system that’s significantly less grindy than its predecessor. These novelties debuted as part of the latestOnce Humanupdate, which rolled out in early January 2025.
Developed by NetEase’s China-based subsidiary Starry Studio,Once Humanis a free-to-play multiplayer shooter that debuted on Steamin July 2024. Its blend of open-world exploration, looter shooters, and survival crafting games ended up resonating with many a player, as underlined by the fact thatOnce Humanpeaked at over 230,000 players shortly following its launch. For reference, that figure makes it one of the top 60 most popular titles ever released on Valve’s storefront, which is quite an achievement on a platform that hosts over 100,000 games.
Starry Studio has been refiningOnce Humanever since, consistently delivering new updates every few weeks. Continuing this trend, the Chinese developer pushed out yet another patch on January 1. Identified by version number 1.3.5, this release introduces some substantial quality-of-life changes, chief among which is the ability to delete characters. Doing so isn’t instant, but merely triggers a five-day grace period during which players can still cancel the deletion. Any characters slated for removal cannot be customized or otherwise used.
Once Human’s New Battle Pass Is Less Grindy
The second big novelty that arrived as part of the 1.3.5 update is a reworked progression system that no longer requiresOnce Humancharacters to personally earn Battle Pass XPif they want BP rewards. Instead, BP progression is now account-based, allowing any member of one’s roster to contribute to new unlocks and ultimately benefit as much as anyone else. Coinciding with this quality-of-life change is the arrival of a new Battle Pass called Frosty Glory.
Another useful addition that debuted as part of the 1.3.5 patch is a vehicle repair function, which can be accessed by unlocking the Vehicle Repair Electric Drills under the Modification II mod tree. As the name implies, this tool will allow players to keep theirOnce Humanvehiclesin good condition.
The January 2025 update also introduced some performance optimizations and balancing tweaks, like buffing Ice Cubes' wilderness durability and making the fridge 20 times more effective at preserving food. The patch also added an attack range indicator to weapon combat facilities and traps during construction, making the process of building reliable defenses less reliant on trial and error. New cosmetics are also part ofOnce Human’s 1.3.5 update, together with over a dozen bug fixes and expanded control options.
Notes:
New Wish Machine Prize Pools
After the update on Jul 25, 2025 (PT), three new Wish Machine prize pools will be available for 3 weeks:
Survival, Open World, and Crafting
Lightforge Loot Crate: Stardust Edge (available on January 3 at 10:00 AM server time)
Lightforge Loot Crate: Arcane Celestial will be removed from sale on January 2, 6:00 AM server time.
Once Human
WHERE TO PLAY
The apocalypse changed everything. Human, animal, plant… all are infested by an alien creature – Stardust. As a Meta-Human, you can survive the contamination and use the power of Stardust. Play alone or join others to fight, build and explore. When the world is in chaos, you are our last hope.You wake up in the middle of nowhere. You’ll have to brace yourself for the cruelty of nature (from monsters to lack of food); however, Stardust’s influence does not restrict to living things, it also affects the soil and water. Eating polluted food and drinking dirty water will reduce your Sanity. When your Sanity drops, your max HP would drop accordingly. To eat or not to eat, it’s a question.Battle numerous enemies that are once human, and challenge bosses from another dimension to gain powerful items and ease Stardust pollution. You are not only fighting for yourself, but also fighting for the survivors.
