Once Human PSA: You can't delete your character or server transfer, so choose where and who you play very, very carefully [UPDATED]

What you need to know

• Once Human is a new multiplayer survival game from developer Starry Studio and publisher NetEase in which players join a server to play on and create their own character.
• Once Human is now out on Windows PC, and players have quickly realized that there's currently no way to delete your character if you want to start over or transfer to a different server if you join the wrong one by accident.
• Coupled with the game's lack of support for multiple characters right now, these restrictions effectively force you to play on the server you initially chose and with the character you first made, as there's no way to go back or make any changes.
• Luckily, multiple characters per account is coming in August, which is one way you'll be able to get around these issues. Until then, though, be very careful when choosing a server and making a character.
• Update: Responding to launch day feedback, Starry Studio has updated Once Human to give players the option to make multiple characters. This gives fans a way to remake characters or play on different servers if they want to.

Original article: After multiple beta tests over the past several months, the highly anticipated survival shooter Once Human is finally here. The game has drawn a huge following with its post-apocalyptic, almost Lovecraftian "weird fiction" theming and its promises of deep mass-multiplayer PvPvE gameplay in a vast open world, to the point where it launched as the fourth most-wishlisted game on Steam. As a result, its arrival has the potential to be one of the biggest game releases of the summer.

One thing players are quickly realizing after joining one of Once Human's servers and creating their characters, though, is that there's not currently an option in the game to move to a different server or to delete your character if you want to start over. As revealed by the developers earlier today, there's also currently not support for creating multiple characters at launch.

Put simply, once you choose where to play and who you're playing as, you're locked in — and unsurprisingly, that's frustrating lots of players who chose a different server than their friends did or made a character they decided they're not happy with. If you haven't started playing Once Human yet, consider this a warning to take your time in the character creation menu and choose the server you want to play on very, very carefully.

There are two different kinds of Once Human servers available in a variety of regions across the globe: Manibus and Evolution's Call. Manibus servers are PvE only, while Evolution's Call features the game's full PvPvE offerings; if you're planning on playing with friends or loved ones, make sure you select a server in the same region that's of the same type and also has the same name and number.

As for the character creator, don't rush through it, as there's quite a few different options to choose from for the hair, eyes, face, body, and cosmetics of your "Meta-Human." There are a ton of presets you can use as well if you'd prefer not to make a character from scratch, so make sure you look through them all before finalizing anything.

Given that Once Human has longform progression systems baked into its gameplay and that its servers are being hammered by floods of players at launch, I can understand not allowing folks to make alternate characters or transfer to different servers. Not letting you delete your character, though, is a very frustrating restriction  that leaves anyone who joined the wrong server by accident or made a character they want to change unable to do so until support for multiple characters comes in August. I wouldn't be surprised if developer Starry Studio ends up lifting this constraint before then, but until the option comes? Don't rush when starting the game.

Once Human is here, and the multiplayer open world survival shooter might just end up being one of 2024's biggest and brightest PC games. Notably, it's completely free to play, so you can check it out without spending a penny.

Once Human | Free at Steam

Once Human — a free-to-play multiplayer survival shooter set in a post-apocalyptic future where an alien lifeform overruns Earth — looks to be one of 2024's biggest game releases. It's scheduled to launch on July 9 on Steam and the Epic Games Store, and is coming to iOS and Android as well.

Also at: Epic Games Store | iOS App Store | Google Play Store