Once Human’s Isles of Abyss Looks Like Subnautica and Sea of Thieves Collided

The new ocean expansion of Once Human, titled Isles of Abyss, is almost here, with its full release officially scheduled for October 21, 2026. This will be, without a doubt, the game’s largest update so far. Players have had plenty of time to learn how to survive on land since the game launched in 2024, but the title is yet again to test their resilience by moving the survival experience to the sea. Those who have had the chance to take a look at the official Xbox trailer already know that Isles of Abyss looks promising, although whether it will be well executed remains to be seen.

However, Once Human isn’t alone when it comes to venturing into dangerous waters. Although the update and its mechanics are new and exciting additions to the game’s world, many of its ideas have been explored before by other titles. Some of its most notable predecessors are the open-world adventure titles Subnautica and Sea of Thieves. However, it seems like Once Human doesn’t simply want to repeat what they’ve already done. Instead, the Isles of Abyss update looks like it’s trying to combine their most iconic features.

Sea of Thieves Walked so Isles of Abyss Could Sail

Image via Starry Studio

It is already known that Isles of Abyss will offer gameplay both underwater and above sea level, and when it comes to the latter, it is difficult not to think of Sea Thieves. Once a fan of naval combat games sees the scattered islands, treasure maps, and combat with cannons, they will probably immediately recognize the similarities, especially since Sea Thieves basically revolves around sending players across the ocean in search of islands and treasures.

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Of course, the similarities don’t end there, as sailing in both games doesn’t happen when the sky is blue and the birds are singing. The sea in the new Once Human update is teeming with hostile ships that will turn your vessel into a wreck upon an encounter, just like there are Krakens and Megalodons in Sea of Thieves. Moreover, both games share an element of unpredictability. Some ships might be friendly, while others, not so much, making your judgment an important part of the journey.

However, one of the most interesting similarities seems to be between the Sunken Kingdom in Sea of Thieves and the Sunken Lord in Once Human. Even the names are almost the same. The latter is a four-player dungeon in Isles of Abyss that requires players to dive beneath the waves in a group to test their combat skills. Although not much has been revealed about what exactly awaits the adventurers down there, it immediately brings to mind Sea of Thieves‘ Sunken Kingdom, which is an underwater location designed specifically to test players’ combat skills.

Once Human and Its Plunge Into Subnautica’s Territory

While players are probably going to find more and more similarities between Isles of Abyss and Sea of Thieves once the new update drops, it’s also hard to ignore how similar the expansion is to other games as well. Subnautica is one very good example, as underwater exploration is basically its bread and butter. In both games, the maps lead players beneath the ocean surface to discover hidden locations, including shipwrecks and suspicious abandoned laboratories.

In both cases, these locations aren’t there only for a change of scenery; they contain important blueprints, rewards, and even enemies. In other words, finding the shipwrecks and labs is just half of the job in both instances. The similarities also extend to preparing properly for resource gathering, as this all matters only if you can bring the loot back with you. Moreover, both worlds are filled with enemies lurking everywhere around, and although we still don’t have enough information to compare them in terms of difficulty, this is yet another similarity between the two titles.

Maybe Once Human Could Get The Best of Both Worlds

At the end of the day, Once Human is an open-world survival game, and when it comes to moving a big part of the experience into the sea in 2026, there are only so many ways to reinvent the wheel. At the very least, it’s imperative that you have hidden enemies, locations filled with loot, and exploration to still fit into the genre. Moreover, the fact that other games have already explored similar features doesn’t mean that Isles of Abyss has nothing new to offer. If anything, it’s the combination of those iconic features that might actually give the expansion an identity of its own.

And the best part is that those features have already been proven successful, so it might actually be difficult to go wrong with them either way. Overall, the worst-case scenario seems to be that Isles of Abyss simply becomes one of the many survival experiences that follow the same formula, which at least couldn’t make the game worse overall, assuming Starry Studio delivers a well-executed update. Moreover, even if the expansion doesn’t make Once Human the most unique title out there, the update will most certainly add a new layer of excitement to the game itself.

Released

July 9, 2024

ESRB

Teen / Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact

Developer(s)

Starry Studio

Publisher(s)

Starry Studio, NetEase, Inc.