In 2022, I was brought on to work with NetEase and Starry Studio for the development of their then-unreleased survival shooter Once Human. I helped to establish the game’s strange, post-apocalyptic world, one in which a mysterious substance known as Stardust has rewritten the rules of reality to both incredible and devastating effect.

Upon release last year, Once Human gained millions of players and earned a Mostly Positive rating with over 120,000 reviews on Steam.

The game won praise from both players and critics for its unique worldbuilding and setting. IGN had this to say about the game’s world in its 8/10 review:

“There’s no shortage of post-apocalyptic survival games out there... But Once Human makes its take on that setup feel unique and interesting by wrapping the end of the world around an alien infestation rather than your classic zombies or nuclear war scenarios. It’s a fun approach that, in hindsight, seems underused in the genre, and Once Human puts it to use in some really clever ways.”

You can watch a trailer for Once Human that I worked on right here: