The 'Once Human Standard' — what ethical F2P looks like in 2026
Once Human's 30M players and 200+ hours of content without pay-to-win is the new ethical F2P standard. The 5 design choices other games should copy.
The "Once Human Standard"
In 2024, the F2P industry was defined by Diablo Immortal — a game widely criticized for its pay-to-win monetization, where spending $100,000+ on a single character was the fastest path to max power.
In 2026, the F2P industry is defined by Once Human — a 30M-player game that proves you can ship at scale with no pay-to-win, no FOMO, no daily login, and no energy system.
This essay defines the "Once Human Standard" — the 5 design choices that, taken together, constitute ethical F2P in 2026.
The 5 design choices
1. Cosmetic-only premium
currency
Once Human's premium currency ("Crystgin") can ONLY be spent on cosmetic items (skins, emotes, base decorations). It cannot buy power, gear, or progression shortcuts.
Compare this to:
- Genshin Impact: premium
currency CAN buy character banners (gacha) and the Battle Pass (which gives resin, a progression currency)
- Diablo Immortal (legacy):
premium currency could buy legendary craters that directly increased power
- Marvel Snap: premium
currency can buy Season Pass levels (skipping the progression)
The "cosmetic-only" standard is the foundation of ethical F2P. Once a game lets premium currency buy power, the race to the bottom begins.
2. No battle pass
Once Human has no battle pass. The closest thing is the "Season Goals" system, which gives all players the same rewards for the same play time, with no FOMO (rewards don't expire).
The battle pass is a relic of 2010s mobile F2P. Its original logic: force the player to log in every day to "earn" the rewards. The result: the modern player resents the FOMO and the grind.
The 2026 F2P landscape is moving past the battle pass. Overwatch 2 (Hero Progression 2.0, Aug 2026), Rocket League, and Apex Legends have all moved or are moving toward "permanent unlock" reward systems. Once Human pioneered this.
3. No daily login rewards
Once Human has no daily login rewards. There is no streak to maintain, no "day 7" bonus to lose by missing a day.
HoYoverse's games (Genshin, HSR, ZZZ) have also never had daily login rewards, and they're the most-successful gacha games. The daily login is a manipulation tactic that modern players see through and resent.
The "Once Human Standard" is: if your game is good, players will play without being bribed to log in. If your game is bad, the daily login won't save it.
4. No energy system
Once Human has no energy system. You can play 24/7 without waiting for "stamina" or "resin" to refill.
Compare this to:
- Genshin Impact: Original
Resin caps play time at ~30 min/day unless you spend premium currency
- Honkai: Star Rail: Trail
Blaze Power is the same system
- Diablo Immortal: Energy
is the same system
Energy systems are the most- aggressive F2P manipulation tactic. They convert player time into spend by making free play time-limited. The "Once Human Standard" is: if your game is good, players will play 24/7 without an energy cap.
5. Cross-prog across all
platforms
Once Human has full cross-progression between PC, mobile, PS5, Xbox, and Xbox on PC. You can start a match on mobile and finish on console without losing anything.
Cross-progression is the "table stakes" of ethical F2P in 2026. A game that doesn't have it (most mobile- only F2P games) is leaving money on the table by locking players to one platform.
Why Once Human succeeded
Once Human wasn't the first F2P game to do these 5 things. Rocket League (since 2017), Apex Legends (since 2019), and Warframe (since 2013) all have variations of the standard.
What Once Human did was ship at 30M+ player scale with all 5 standards at once. That's the first time in F2P history.
The result: Once Human's revenue per player is the highest of any F2P game in
- The "ethical" model is
not charity — it's a retention play that pays off.
What other games should do
The "Once Human Standard" isn't a moral position. It's a competitive advantage.
If you're a F2P game designer in 2026 and you're not doing at least 3 of these 5 things, you're losing players to games that are. The 5 design choices above aren't optional — they're the new baseline.
The 3 most-impactful changes to make in 2026:
- Drop the daily login
(the easiest change with the biggest retention win)
- **Make the premium currency
cosmetic-only** (if you can; some genres like gacha have built-in exceptions)
- Add cross-progression
(the hardest change, but the most-rewarding)
What's next
The F2P industry in 2027 will look very different from 2024. The "Once Human Standard" is the new baseline. Games that don't meet it will lose players.
The next frontier is the "Once Human Standard for social": games where the community is genuinely welcoming to new players, not just permissive. The "social F2P" wave is the next big shift, and the games that get it right will define the late 2020s.
FAQ
What is the "Once Human
Standard"?
The 5 design choices that constitute ethical F2P in 2026: cosmetic-only premium currency, no battle pass, no daily login rewards, no energy system, and full cross-progression.
Why is Once Human the
standard?
It's the first F2P game to ship at 30M+ player scale with all 5 standards at once. The result: highest revenue per player of any F2P game in 2026.
Does the "Once Human
Standard" work for gacha?
Partially. Gacha games (Genshin, HSR) have built-in exceptions — the gacha system is the monetization model. But the other 4 standards (no daily login, no energy, cross-prog) still apply, and HoYoverse's games are proof.
What's the easiest
"Once Human Standard" change to make?
Drop the daily login. The retention win is immediate, and the implementation cost is zero.
What's the hardest
"Once Human Standard" change to make?
Add cross-progression. It requires re-architecting the save system, the progression database, and the authentication layer. Most games underestimate the cost by 3-4x.
Will the "Once Human
Standard" become industry- wide by 2027?
Most of the standards will be. Cosmetic-only premium currency and cross-progression are becoming expected. The battle pass is dying. The daily login is dying. Energy systems will be the last to go (gacha games will keep them for monetization reasons).
About 5 minutes read.
