Once Human's free Isles of Abyss ocean expansion is live, with player-built ships, diving and the Sunken Lord

Time to set sail. Once Human’s biggest free expansion yet, Isles of Abyss, went live with update 3.1.1 after maintenance that started at 7 PM ET on October 21, and it’s on PC, PS5, Xbox and mobile with cross-play, per the official Steam announcement.

What’s in it, going by PlayStation.Blog and the 3.1.1 patch notes:

• A new ocean scenario: you wake on a starter island, then explore four more sea regions in any order. It’s PvE and runs about 21 days per cycle, with a permanent server expected November 18.
• Ships you build: start on a raft and grow it into a mobile sea fortress in Build Mode. It works as both a vehicle and a movable base, and friends can sail together as a fleet.
• Diving: diving suits, oxygen tanks and a spear gun for sunken ruins, rare resources and deep-sea hunting.
• Hazards and bosses: four Haywire Zones (Mist of Deceit, Black Tide, Time Rain and Skyfire), new sea enemies, and the Sunken Lord as the endgame boss.
• Also new: an ocean PvP map called Isles of Abyss: RaidZone, a first-person over-the-shoulder aim mode, keyboard-and-mouse keybinds on PS5 and Xbox, and the Halloween Wonder Night event through November 11.

Log in before November 8 at 5 PM ET to grab the free launch rewards from your mailbox, including a Legendary weapon blueprint, 10,000 Starchrom and a 30-day Meta Pass trial. The download is about 26 GB on PC, 20 GB on Xbox and 12 GB on PS5. Day-one fixes are still rolling, and the devs say ship lag and rollback while moving on deck are being fixed urgently.

PPR take: A full ocean survival mode with ships you design yourself is a big swing for a free update, and the screenshots players are already posting look great. If you bounced off Once Human, this is a good time to look again.