Inside Once Human’s mobile expansion

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The survival open-world title Once Human, developed by NetEase’s Starry Studio, first launched on PC in July of 2024. Last week the game made its mobile debut.

The PC version of the game made it into Steam’s global top five bestsellers, accumulating a peak of 230,000 concurrent players, and the mobile version of Once Human gained 30 million pre-registrations.

We spoke with Sun Xiangyu, lead designer of Once Human Mobile, to dive into the vision and challenges behind bridging the game to mobile devices. 

Making the move to mobile

So, why bring Once Human to mobile?

“First, we wanted to make Once Human accessible to a broader audience,” Sun explains. “Since its PC launch, the game has garnered global acclaim, with many players expressing strong interest in a mobile version. Given the platform’s vast reach, we saw an opportunity to expand the player base.”

But bringing Once Human to mobile is more than just about reach, it’s about offering players the freedom to play in a way that suits them: “We aim to offer players flexibility in how they engage with the game – whether through extended sessions on PC or shorter play sessions on mobile.”

Bringing a PC game to mobile always presents its own challenges, so the team approached the transition to balance fidelity with usability.

“Technically, we’ve ensured the mobile version retains the PC’s high-end quality visuals and performance while optimising controls and UI for touchscreens. Extensive testing has been conducted to deliver a shameless cross-platform experience.”

Meeting mobile players and technical hurdles 

With mobile making up the most players globally, there’s also the potential to foster greater growth from this space of the games market.

However, capturing and turning that audience into paying players means understanding their preferences. According to Sun, Once Human is uniquely positioned to connect with them.

“The game’s aesthetic and survival open-world gameplay align with popular genres among mobile players. As one of the few multiplayer open-world survival titles on mobile, Once Human also caters to players’ social preferences.”

Bringing the game to mobile did, however, present some challenges, mainly from a technical aspect. Sun shares that some of the mobile version’s biggest hurdles to jump came from trying to balance performance and visual fidelity while also ensuring that battery life remained efficient. 

“We optimised rendering, controls and UI to ensure smooth gameplay,” Sun says. 

Some mobile-specific features were also introduced to improve fluidity and reduce friction during gameplay. These include a smart loot pickup, allowing players to grab items from the world more fluidly. An aim assist was also introduced, as well as consumable alerts so players are prompted for resource use.

These new additions are aimed at making the mobile game feel native rather than just a port of the PC version.

Cross-progression and creating community 

When bringing any game over to another platform, it’s important to consider cross-progression, and for a multiplayer game, it’s seen as even more essential now so players can pick up their progress no matter where and what they’re playing from. 

“Cross-platform functionality offers players greater flexibility and convenience,” Sun notes. “It also fosters a sustainable community by enabling seamless squad formation and social interactions across devices.”

The team has leaned heavily into player feedback to ensure that the community thrives.

“Player input is central to our development process. We gather feedback through in-game tools, community platforms and dedicated playtests. Each suggestion is reviewed and addressed via updates, developers blogs or live discussions.” 

As an example, Sun shares that early tests had revealed that certain control schemes within the game felt cumbersome on mobile, which led to the additions of features such as auto-aim and smart pickup. 

Future support

Bringing the game to mobile was a large undertaking. Sun notes that the team is comprised of around 500 members, including core designers, support staff and marketing teams.

“As a global team, we incorporate feedback from players worldwide to refine the experience.”

In recent years, we’ve seen more Chinese-developed games reach great heights with global successes like Black Myth: Wukong and Genshin Impact.

Sun shares that Once Human can also appeal to the broader global player base through its narrative design, gameplay and setting. Sun adds: “Global players share core preferences, allowing Once Human to resonate across markets.”

Post launch, Once Human mobile will mirror its PC counterpart regarding content and overall vision. 

“The mobile version will align with PC in content and its monetisation. We adhere to a no pay-to-win policy, offering only battle passes, cosmetics and meta passes.”

The team at Starry Studio aims to support Once Human’s growth across both PC and mobile platforms in the months ahead. Sun also emphasises that updates will prioritise fairness and player satisfaction.