Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an open-world survival game in third person from Panache Digital Games. It follows a group of early hominins in Africa around ten million years ago. Players control different clan members, explore new habitats and must find food, water and safe shelters.

A single life is not the focus. What matters more is gathering experience, growing the clan and passing learned skills on to later generations. This becomes a game about long-term adaptation rather than a linear story with a fixed hero.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey first came out for PC in 2019, followed by PS4 and Xbox One. The Steam version followed in 2020.

On December 8, 2026, technically reworked versions release for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.

Ancestors first came out for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. On December 8, 2026, native versions follow for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.

The PC version gets the improvements for free. Free upgrades have been announced for owners of the older console versions. On Nintendo Switch 2, the game appears on Nintendo hardware for the first time.

The game combines three closely linked tasks: exploring, growing the clan and developing it over generations. On expeditions through jungle and savanna, hominins gather materials and food, find safe routes, and must spot predators and environmental risks.

Tools are made by working with items you find. Experience builds skills such as perception, movement and handling danger. These gains must be secured through the change of generation so they help the clan in the long run.

For the Windows version released so far, Steam lists a minimum of an Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD Phenom II X6 1100T, 8 GB RAM and either a GTX 760 with 4 GB or a Radeon HD 7950 with 3 GB. Recommended is a Core i7-4770K or Ryzen 5 1600, and a GTX 980 or RX 480 with 8 GB RAM.

These minimum and recommended specs apply to the original 2019 PC version.

The player character is replaceable: members of a hominin group take on different roles, form relationships and have offspring. As a group reproduces and passes on experience, new skills can be established over several generations.

According to the game description, the clan's development spans a long period of early human history. Choices made while exploring and learning skills change your progress, and no playthrough follows the same order.

Ancestors launches on December 8, 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. The remaster features Unreal Engine 5, a narrator voice and an expanded photo mode.

Owners of the PS4 and Xbox One versions are set to get free upgrades. The PC version also gets a free update.