Once Human Offers Refunds After 'Golden Shore Pool' Falls Short of Expectations

On August 12 (PT), Once Human released a furniture pack called Summer Echoes, which included the Golden Shore Pool formula. Player feedback quickly turned negative, and the development team has now published a public explanation alongside a compensation plan.

What went wrong

The studio identified three specific problems with Golden Shore Pool:

• No swimming. The pool uses a special furniture water body, meaning players cannot swim in it — only interact with swim rings.
• Rendering failures. In scenes under high performance pressure, the water body can be culled, causing it to disappear or display incorrectly.
• Placement and detail shortcomings. The overall result did not meet the team's own stated standards for placement flexibility and visual presentation.

The handling plan

Players who purchased Summer Echoes before the announcement have two options:

• Option 1 — Refund: Submit a refund request via the Once Human Feedback Platform before 09:00 on August 19 (PT). A full refund in Crystgin will be issued, and the unlocked formulas will be reclaimed.
• Option 2 — Keep it: Players who retain the pack will receive Lightforge Ingot ×1 and Colorful Badge ×150 as compensation.

Refund requests must be submitted using the same account that made the purchase.

For players who sank Crystgin into what looked like a summer centrepiece, the choice between a clean refund and modest materials compensation at least puts the decision in their hands rather than the studio's.