Once Human on PS5 and Xbox: launch on August 25 at 8 p.m. Paris time, pre-load starts on the 23rd and 100 GB on Xbox

NetEase and Starry Studio released today, Thursday, August 20, 2026, the launch FAQ for the console version of Once Human. Thirty-six questions, and above all the three figures everyone was waiting for to plan their week: the opening time, the pre-load window, and the client size.

Console servers open on Tuesday, August 25 at 11:00 AM Pacific Time, that is 8:00 PM in Paris. In August, the US West Coast is on daylight saving time (UTC-7) and France is on UTC+2: a nine-hour gap, not eight. This time has changed: the 3.0.3 update patch notes, published on August 5, placed the opening one hour earlier on the same time zone, which worked out to 7:00 PM for us. Today's FAQ is the authoritative source.

The pre-load opens 48 hours in advance, and the client weighs in at around 80 GB on PlayStation, around 100 GB on Xbox. With an asymmetry that NetEase slips in parenthetically and which changes everything depending on the machine: on PlayStation, pre-loading is reserved for buyers of the pre-order bundle. On Xbox, it isn't.

What the FAQ locks in about the August 25 launch

Three platforms are supported: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, and Xbox Series X|S. Six regions are covered at launch: North America, South America, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong / Macau / Taiwan.

After launch, full crossplay works with the already-released PC and mobile versions: players can add each other as friends, form a team, and play together regardless of platform. PlayStation and Xbox players can also play with each other. On the content side, the publisher announces alignment of the version, events, and storyline pacing with PC and mobile, while noting that occasional differences may occur depending on platform.

PS5 vs. Xbox Series X|S: the differences at a glance

On paper, it's the same game. In practice, the installation logistics differ on two points.

The 20 GB gap is not explained by the publisher, and nothing suggests it reflects a difference in content. The practical takeaway is more down-to-earth: it's on Xbox that you'll need to free up space.

Pre-load: the date, and the time to plan for

NetEase announces a window, not a timestamp. Counting a full 48 hours before opening, pre-loading should open around Sunday, August 23 at 8:00 PM Paris time — this is our calculation, not an official time. What the FAQ doesn't say remains: how long it will take. As a rough estimate, based on typical home bandwidth and barring any throttling from the distribution servers.

Partial downloading is supported on both platforms: it's possible to start playing before the transfer finishes. That helps in a pinch, but on a 50 Mb/s connection, starting the download at 8:00 PM on August 25 means you'll actually be playing around midnight. The window on the 23rd exists precisely to avoid that.

Free, no subscription required, and playable in French

The console version is free, just like PC and mobile, and every game mode is accessible without paying. Paid content is limited to cosmetics, the battle pass, and other items that affect neither gameplay nor fairness. NetEase goes so far as to state it in black and white: this is not a pay to win game.

Neither PlayStation Plus nor Xbox Game Pass Core is required to play. Subscribers only receive extra cosmetics tied to their platform subscription. Nothing that affects balance.

Ten languages are supported on console: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. This point deserves clarification, since it's regularly misunderstood: the game itself is indeed localized in French, but its communication is not. The oncehuman.game website no longer has a French version: its selector is limited to four entries, English, Japanese, Korean, and Traditional Chinese. Steam announcements, meanwhile, remain in English even when the interface language is set to French. That's why the interface labels quoted below are given in English: they're taken directly from the FAQ, and we won't manufacture our own translation.

The three irreversible decisions

The rest of the document comes down to three choices that, once made, cannot be undone — or not easily. They deserve to be settled before the 25th, not during.

1. The region

There is no cross-region play. To guarantee access speed, each region's servers are hosted in physically separate data centers, and data is not shared between them. A player in North America cannot join a friend in Asia.

The region is therefore chosen at sign-up, based on the group you plan to play with, not on theoretical latency. It's displayed in the upper right corner of the login screen: have your friends compare it before confirming. After that, to end up on the same server, you need to complete the game's opening steps, then use the More Servers option on the scenario selection screen — and, if the target server is full, use an invitation code generated via Special Invitation Code under the friend's character card.

2. The linked account

We already devoted an entire guide to the linking procedure on August 9. Today's FAQ adds three new rules, and they are binding.

• A PSN or Xbox account can only be linked to a single game account. Not two, not one per scenario.
• Unlinking is only possible after 30 days of linking, for security reasons. In case of a particular situation, you'll need to go through in-game customer service, which may request verification elements: in-game menu, then Feedback & Customer Support, Bug report, Other bugs.
• The same account cannot be connected simultaneously on console, PC and mobile. A new connection disconnects the previous device.

On the other hand, accounts are not tied to any device: once the linking is done, you can freely choose your platform and switch whenever you want. Linking is set up from https://www.oncehuman.game/zjzhbd/en/ or in-game via Settings - Account - Link Account.

3. The character kept

This is the most costly point in the document. If both accounts you're linking each carry characters, the linking only keeps one — those from the other account are abandoned. NetEase has put a safeguard in place: accounts whose characters were created more than 30 days ago benefit from protection against accidental manipulation. The official recommendation in this case is clear: link an empty account instead. Take inventory beforehand, not after — the moment the game asks you to decide is not the time to go check.

What console tests won't give you back

Testers who went through the console test phases should read this twice: no character progress from the tests carries over to the official servers. The counter starts back at zero.

Some elements escape this reset — Protochrome (the Starchrom from the English notes) and active cosmetics are mentioned — but they follow the rules of the beta announcements and don't drop into your inventory on their own: they're claimed after launch, from the event interface of the console version. One detail matters: eligibility is determined based on linking history, and these rewards are generally claimable only once per account. Check the destination account before clicking.

Controller, keyboard and mouse, and Console-prefixed servers

The final section answers yes to four quality-of-life questions: keyboard and mouse support on console, remappable keys, HDR and Quality and Performance modes present, adjustable controller vibration intensity.

More structurally significant: there are console-exclusive servers, identifiable by the "Console" prefix in their name. A PC or mobile device can view a character that has connected there, but cannot play on it. If you plan to continue your game indifferently on keyboard or controller, avoid those servers.

The roadmap, from today to August 25

• Today, Thursday, August 20: take stock of your accounts and decide which one will be linked. Make sure only one of the two has characters on it.
• By Saturday, August 22: agree with your friends on a common region. This is the hardest choice to fix afterward.
• Saturday, August 22: free up disk space — about 80 GB on PS5, about 100 GB on Xbox Series X|S. On a Series S, this is the most likely sticking point.
• Sunday, August 23, around 8:00 p.m.: preloading is expected to open, 48 hours before the servers do. On PlayStation, you need to have purchased the pre-order pack to be eligible; otherwise, your download will start on the evening of the 25th.
• Tuesday, August 25, 8:00 p.m. Paris time (11:00 a.m. Pacific time): servers open. Claim your beta test rewards from the event interface, after checking the destination account.

The real risk on August 25 is neither the queue nor the day-one patch. It's discovering at 8:05 p.m. that you picked the wrong region, or that you're missing 40 GB of disk space. Both can be fixed this week, in twenty minutes.