Hours before launch, hyped survival game Once Human reminds players about its seasonal server wipes "to provide a fairer, more relaxed, and freer gaming experience"

Just ahead of launch, anticipated survival game Once Human has reminded fans that they can only have one character at a time, and that their characters' progress will be wiped with each season.

Once Human, which is sitting in the top five on Steam's wishlist charts, launches today, July 9. In the last few hours before release, its devs have been reminding players that any progress they make in the game will be subject to seasonal wipes. In the vein of games like Rust or Escape From Tarkov, much of your building materials and certain currencies will be lost at the end of each season. In Once Human, however, a good chunk of what you own will be transferred to your personal 'Eternaland' realm, where you'll get to play around with it in perpetuity.

Different seasons will have different scenarios to play out, and are intended as good news for players making their way into the game some time after launch. Unfortunately, developer Starry Studios says you won't be able to help out those new players with an alt character - at launch, at least, Once Human will only let you have one character at a time. In an FAQ, the developer confirmed that "due to technical limitations, only one character can be created per account." The aim is to fix that within a month or so, but it sounds as though the first season will see you primarily limited to that first creation.

Once Human's seasonal wipes weren't exactly a secret, as they were common knowledge to players who'd been tracking various pre-launch tests. The exactitudes of that seasonal model were unknown until relatively recently, however, as Starry Studios dropped a more detailed explainer in May. With this latest letter arriving mere hours before launch and the devs claiming they're "thrilled to announce" the season model, it seems like this could have been a detail that's flown under the radar, which is something that the team is likely keen to avoid if there's about to be an influx of players thanks to that wishlist positioning.

Check our our list of the best survival games.