Once Human Called Out for Allegedly Reusing Assets from a Popular Space Game
Once Human has been accused of stealing an asset from No Man’s Sky and reselling it as a premium cosmetic item. As a free-to-play live-service game, Once Human earns most of its revenue through selling various currencies and cosmetics. However, since its launch, the game has faced several controversies involving stolen art appearing among its premium items.
After the controversies surrounding Once Human‘s launch, the game was accused of stealing a piece of art from Rainbow Six Siege‘sAt the time, some Reddit users pointed out that one of the rewards in Once Human‘s battle pass, the Hush Weapon Charm, uses the Caveira icon from Ubisoft’s popular first-person shooter with no changes at all. Now, developer Starry Studio is facing yet another similar controversy, this time over an accusation of stealing an in-game item from another well-known title.
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Once Human’s Lightwheel Hoop Looks Very Similar to the Teleporter in No Man’s Sky
Pointed out by fans on Reddit, the new premium furniture item in Once Human, the Lightwheel Hoop, appears to be a replica of the Base Teleport Module in the space exploration game No Man’s Sky. The similarity is hard to miss, as the shape, design, and patterns look copied and pasted. The only clear differences are the added exercise bike in the middle and possibly the color choice.
The Reddit user who raised the possible asset theft in the No Man’s Sky subreddit also noted that Once Human sells these cosmetic items through the Lightforge Lootcrate, which only makes the situation worse. “It’s not just the visual similarity itself that caught my attention,” they wrote, adding that “[No Man’s Sky] gives [the Teleport Module] to players as part of their progression. Once Human sells a similar concept as a premium loot box prize.”
Once Human revealed the new Thunder Overload Lightforge Lootcrate in November, adding a range of paid cosmetic items to the game, including the Lightwheel Hoop. These crates work by requiring players to purchase a special currency called Crystgin in order to draw loot boxes. Each draw has a chance to award one of the premium cosmetic items, with a pity system that guarantees a return on investment every 20 draws. Since acquiring items from Once Human‘s crates can be expensive, many players are disappointed that the devs have included an item like the Lightwheel Hoop, which looks stolen or, at the very least, not originally designed.
For now, there has been no official announcement from Once Human regarding the accusations. However, the development team may change or remove the item in the future, as it did when the Rainbow Six Siege controversy escalated. When fans pointed out that the Hush Weapon Charm in Once Human copied the Caveira icon from Ubisoft’s game, the developers quietly removed it and replaced it with another artwork that used distinct colors and new line art. A similar scenario could unfold with the Lightwheel Hoop, and Once Human may choose to replace it with a new piece of furniture to avoid further accusations of art theft.
Some players have also noted that the Teleporter Module in No Man’s Sky is likely an inspired design that resembles the famous Stargate from the namesake sci-fi show. However, the counterargument is that even if the Teleporter in Hello Games’ space exploration title is inspired by Stargate, it still uses that influence creatively rather than replicating it as a near 1:1 model. Meanwhile, Once Human‘s Lightwheel Hoop looks like a straightforward copy with little effort from the developers to make it unique. In the coming days, it will be interesting to see if and how the Once Human team responds to these accusations and whether the item in question will be removed from the game.
- Released
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July 9, 2024
- ESRB
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t
- Developer(s)
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Starry Studio
- Publisher(s)
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Starry Studio, NetEase, Inc.