Hello Everyone!

The release of Frontiers has been an intense and exciting time for the team. Populated civilisations are something the community have requested for a long time, and it’s incredibly rewarding for us to see players claiming their first settlement, meeting their first citizens, and experimenting with all the new base parts. We love seeing your process of discovery, and are often blown away by your extraordinary creativity with base building. Thank you for sharing your screenshots and stories, some of which you can find in the full blog post here.



Today, we are very excited to announce an event we know players have been anticipating. Expedition Three: Cartographers begins today!



In the Pioneers expedition, travellers embarked on a long journey across the galaxy: exploring, trading, building, mining and rendezvousing across five different planets. The second expedition, Beachhead, confronted travellers with a tightly-woven mystery, and a race against time to unravel it, with players all across the world eventually helping to summon the legendary SSV Normandy SR1 from Mass Effect.

Expedition seasons give us the opportunity to craft No Man’s Sky experiences that differ from the established game modes, and Cartographers is yet another unique journey, focused primarily on deep exploration of a single planet. This season places all expeditioners on the toxic world of Gisto Major, where their bespoke starship will require specialist attention to repair and launch into space.



Cartographers begins today, and will run for approximately two months.

Anniversary T-Shirt

To help commemorate the fifth anniversary of No Man’s Sky, we are releasing this stylish black and gold t-shirt, available for a limited time in the Official NMS Merchandise store here (Americas and Canada) or here (Rest of World).



Twitch Drop Campaign

We’re also very pleased to confirm the dates for a new campaign of Twitch drops! This weekend, from Thursday 9th September to Monday 13th September, tune into streamers playing No Man’s Sky on Twitch to earn an exciting new spread of in-game rewards.



Our very first Twitch drop campaign earlier this year worked out really well - in addition to welcoming a number of new travellers to No Man’s Sky, and offering existing players a new way to earn rewards, the campaign helped bring a new audience to streamers who have supported us from the very beginning, which means a lot to us!

Full details are available on the Twitch Drops page here.

Community Research

Polo’s Quicksilver Synthesis Companion is exhibiting almost organic-seeming emotion as travellers unlock the Antimatter Observation Orb, Synthesis Core, and Bubble Vat: items fashioned in the likeness of their own anomalous home. The thought of these items decorating planetary bases makes them emit a few delighted sparks.



They have hinted that they are next planning to synthesise something nautical-themed, inspired by the ancient maritime trade vessels of the Gek. Complete missions at the Nexus to contribute towards unlocking the Bubble Vat and unveiling the next batch of exotic items!

Development Update

We are continuing to work on features and content for No Man’s Sky, and look forward to sharing more when we’re ready! In the shorter term, we have already released 3 small patches since the release of Frontiers last week, and will continue to listen out for issues reported by the community. Thank you for playing!

Our journey continues.

Thank you so much,

Sean

Hello,

Today we are pleased to finally reveal what our small team has been working our socks off on. Full patch notes for FRONTIERS are available here.

Fittingly for our 5th anniversary update, Frontiers is one of our biggest updates for a long time.



Frontiers introduces the concept of large living breathing planetary settlements which travellers can encounter, interact with and even be elected Overseer of. As the leader of your adopted people, travellers can choose to help them, even lead them, ensure their future prosperity and happiness and ultimately develop these fledgling towns into even larger towns.



You are able to construct new buildings, to see your town grow as you welcome new inhabitants. Citizens will look to you to help solve their problems, make important decisions, keep them safely below sentinel radars, and help defend against drone attacks.



In addition to the introduction of these settlements, Frontiers brings a huge overhaul to base building with hundreds of new base parts, advanced building controls and a new grid menu to aid with even more fanciful constructions. Our very first update for No Man’s Sky was to introduce base building, something which has become one of our most popular features. It’s been nice to mark our anniversary by massively growing and expanding what is possible for players to create.



And the long-awaited Expedition 3, Cartographers, is just around the corner. Join in this latest seasonal event which starts all players in the same place and, as the name suggests, focuses on planetary mapping and exploration. Players will start their adventure with a technologically unique ship which requires bespoke materials to repair. They will need to thoroughly explore their starting world to escape the toxic atmosphere of planet Gisto Major.

This year alone has seen the introduction of COMPANIONS, EXPEDITIONS, PRISMS and now FRONTIERS. That’s a major update every 8 weeks on average! I’m super proud of the team which is still really small, and I continue to be amazed by their ability, energy and desire to maintain such a consistent cadence of exciting No Man’s Sky features and improvements.

Frontiers will be our 17th major update, in amongst hundreds of smaller hotfixes and patches. This is just another update for us, another step, and there's more to come. We're excited for what it allows us to do in future.

Full patch notes for Frontiers can be found here.

Our journey continues.

Sean

Hello,

Five years ago this week, we launched No Man's Sky. For the first time we watched players all over the world begin to explore the universe we had created. It was a nerve wracking moment and the culmination of five years of very hard work for our tiny team (the average team size was just 6, and at launch was just 15).



We knew this was the start of a journey, but never expected what a wild ride it would be. Today we'd like to take a moment to appreciate this milestone together. It hasn't always been easy, but the thing that has been our guiding star throughout has been the players and the community. Behind every update, every video, every feature and line in a patch note is a team that cares so deeply for this game.



We’re so proud of what we’ve built and the major advances that the game has received. Multiplayer, base-building, VR, cross-play, next-gen updates, pets, expeditions, mechs, living ships… it’s a pretty long list. Watching that video even the team is surprised by just how much No Man's Sky has changed over the years, but also how close it has stuck to that central vision of building a universe to explore.

All our updates have been free, and the community grows with every passing update. Today we’re enjoying a stronger player base than at any point in the past five years. Given that growth, we’re thrilled to see that the positivity and welcoming nature of the community holds strong. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who contribute to creating a safe and nurturing environment for any new travellers who find their way into our universe.



Over the last five years No Man’s Sky has realised a shared dream we had of creating a game where you could explore an infinite universe, where every planet was undiscovered and unexplored. I’m glad that we’ve been able to share that dream with players, but even more glad that, five years on, we continue to be excited about finding new and innovative things to build on from what we’ve already achieved.

Today it seems fitting that we celebrate the anniversary in our own way, by teasing the next update. FRONTIERS will be our seventeenth (!) and we’re excited to bring it to you very soon.

Our journey continues.

Sean

Hello!

Already this year we have been delighted to watch Travellers the world over adopt weird and wonderful creatures in the COMPANIONS update, then jump into an all-new game mode with the first two EXPEDITIONS and unlock exclusive new content, including the SSV Normandy SR1 from Mass Effect. Further expeditions are planned very soon, and we look forward to sharing them with you.

Today we are pleased to release our third free update of this, our 5th anniversary year. We’re calling it PRISMS. Full patch notes are available here.



PRISMS brings with it a visual overhaul of No Man’s Sky. Virtually no part of the game has been left untouched - our small team have enhanced the technology and the art all across the game to make the entire universe more vivid and beautiful than ever. Planets, skies, stars, creatures, the weather, space stations and more - new technology and new content mean they look the best they’ve ever been. We can’t wait for players to discover the changes.

While exploring planets you’ll notice new weather effects, such as rain which refracts the light and surfaces that become slick and wet. Or if you venture underground you’ll find caves with new lighting effects, more detailed environments and greater variety of generation.



Fur has been added to creatures you encounter, bringing extra detail and variety to exploration and companion taming. Flying creatures, such as giant beetles, flying worms and colossal butterflies, as well as some of the more bizarre, exotic and description-defying alien creatures, can now all be adopted as your companions.

Above you, the night sky now shines with the light from thousands of distant stars. New audio and visual effects transform your interstellar experience as you warp between destinations. In the Space Station, your freighter, and other interiors you’ll notice volumetric lights, detailed surfaces from Parallax Occlusion Mapping and gorgeous reflective metallic surfaces.



And of course, with all these visual enhancements, it makes sense to upgrade Photo Mode too with improved depth of field and bloom controls. We love seeing the incredible creativity of our community, and are very excited to see what beautiful images you surprise us with next.

PC players with compatible Nvidia graphics cards can take advantage of DLSS, potentially seeing their framerate double.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a No Man’s Sky update without a long list of extras - see the full list here. Worthy of note this time is the ability to tame and ride flying creatures. This is something which has been requested ever since Travellers mounted their first creature in the BEYOND update and we can’t wait for you to take to the skies with your trusty airborne steeds.



We are seeing no slow down in the number of new Travellers coming into the No Man’s Sky universe, so we’d like to use this opportunity to thank players new and old for being with us so far on this five-year adventure.

Full patch notes are available here.

Our journey continues.

Sean

Hello,

For the last week the No Man's Sky community have worked together on the new Beachhead expedition, solving the puzzle of its hidden and encrypted goals. Today is a lovely moment, as explorers are discovering that at the end of this mystery is the appearance of the legendary SSV Normandy SR1 from Mass Effect!



There has been crazy speculation as to where this mysterious voyage would lead. Huge thank you to the dedicated travellers involved: those who figured out the purpose of the "Historiographical Dosimeter" and how to use it; those who cracked the code and translated the messages hidden in a secret alphabet; those who pieced together the story of the coming of the Normandy out of flux fragments at monoliths all across the universe; and to everyone involved in the colossal research effort to unlock the Myth Beacon and summon the 'weapon' into existence!



This is a lovely little Easter Egg moment, and something hopefully no one was expecting.

We are thrilled and flattered that BioWare and EA let us pay tribute in this way. As huge fans of the series, it's a lovely moment for sci-fi fans. Like everyone else we've been rediscovering the amazing universe of Mass Effect through the release of the Legendary Edition. I still have chills every time I see this incredibly iconic ship warping in, and was delighted to see so many people have the same reaction.

All players now have until the 31st May to undertake this expedition for themselves if they wish to ultimately add the SSV Normandy SR1 to their frigate fleet for good.



As this is our fifth anniversary year, we have some other surprises up our sleeves, with more information coming very soon.

Our Journey Continues,

Sean

Patch 3.41

• Added the ability to dismiss a frigate from your freighter fleet via the Fleet Management terminal.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented Expedition rewards from being redeemed by players who had already earned parts of the reward from the Quicksilver shop.
  
• Players starting the Beachhead expedition will now begin with warp fuel available.
  
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Nada, Polo and other Space Anomaly inhabitants from offering the correct dialog options if spoken to in abandoned systems.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the Atlas Fireworks to have no audio.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented the fleets tutorial from advancing if players skipped the initial conversations with the navigator and immediately built a Fleet Terminal.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Historiographical Dosimeter from being redeemed from the expedition rewards section of the Quicksilver shop.

Hello!
Our next update for No Man’s Sky, EXPEDITIONS, which launches today gives travellers a whole new way to explore together.

Expeditions is a seasonal and community focused mode and complements the existing modes like Normal, Creative, Survival and Permadeath. Every player will start out on the same planet with a journey plotted ahead of you across the galaxy. Each traveller starts with a custom collection of technology, customisations, new ships and weapons, providing a glimpse of some of the wild possibilities in the universe.



As a community you will adventure through the season passing journey milestones and completing the different phases along the way to unlock increasingly valuable rewards, many of which are unique to the season. Everything you unlock will be available across all modes, and at the end of the season existing expeditions will be converted to normal mode saves allowing play to continue.

If you are a returning player looking for a fresh start, an experienced explorer looking to recapture the awe of your first moments in No Man’s Sky, or a new player wishing to join in a huge community experience - then EXPEDITIONS should be a great place to jump in.



Whilst Expeditions is a huge addition, this update also provides a whole host of quality of life and feature improvements. From a new UI, to scanning capabilities, to combat enhancements, to starship overhauls - there’s hundreds of improvements and tweaks to enjoy. This is one of our biggest updates for a long while. Full exhaustive patch notes are available here, but you can find some examples below:



SHARED EXPEDITIONS - Each of these events starts from a fixed point in the universe, bringing the whole community of travellers together to embark on a shared journey.

MILESTONES AND PHASES- Progress through exploration milestones to earn rewards, meet up with fellow travellers, and experiment with new ways of playing No Man’s Sky.

TARGET SWEEP MODE - A new extension to the Analysis Visor, Target Sweep brings a new element of exploration gameplay to missions. Use survey techniques and exploration skills to uncover mission destinations.

MISSION OVERHAUL - Core and optional missions have been overhauled to include the Target Sweep mechanic, as well as a large number of other improvements.

WEEKEND MISSIONS - Weekend Missions have been re-enabled. These procedurally generated missions unite the community around a common goal, and offer a large amount of Quicksilver as a reward.

UI AND HUD OVERHAUL - The in-game HUD has been completely refreshed, for a cleaner and more legible appearance. A large number of UI and marker quality of life improvements have been added.



BALANCE AND QUALITY OF LIFE CHANGES - Improvements to early game balance and a new smoothness to the automated instructions for building products and technologies mean this is the best time to get back into playing No Man’s Sky.

RENDEZVOUS POINTS - Reunite with other travellers on the same journey, group up with the community to build a settlement, or simply wave hello as you pass through.

EXCLUSIVE NEW REWARDS - Progressing through Expedition phases will unlock exclusive new rewards. The first expedition offers new content such as base parts, new customisation options, as well as an exclusive ship design and new jetpack style.

SEASONS - New expeditions will start regularly, recapturing the excitement of setting out into the universe for the very first time. Each expedition will have a theme, and offer a new way to look at the colossal universe of No Man’s Sky. This is just the beginning.

CROSS-SAVE REWARDS - The exclusive rewards earned from Expeditions can be redeemed on other saves in any game mode at the Space Anomaly.

BUG FIXES AND PERFORMANCE - As well as these brand new ways to play No Man’s Sky, we have been busy listening to player feedback and addressing bug fixes and frequently requested balance changes.



The team have been hard at work and this is already our second major update of the year (COMPANIONS launched just a few weeks ago!). We have loved watching players adopt, ride and forge relationships with a wide variety of weird and wonderful creatures they find in the universe. On planet, in the Nexus or on community missions, encountering and journeying with other travellers is now just as much about meeting their trusty sidekicks. And those creature friends are going to be good company on community Expeditions too. EXPEDITIONS is available to download now, free for existing players.

Our journey continues.

Sean

Hello Everyone,

Thank you to everyone playing the Companions Update, especially those taking the time to report any issues they encounter via Zendesk or console crash reporting.

We are listening closely to your feedback, and have identified and resolved a number of issues. These fixes have been combined into patch 3.21, which will be live on all platforms today.

• Fixed a crash that could occur when reading the text at some specific interactions, primarily distress beacons.
  
• On PC, fixed a crash that could occur when loading creature textures. This fix will be rolled out to other platforms as soon as possible.

• Aggressive companions will now correctly attack hazardous plants.
  
• A number of creature behaviours have been rebalanced to better match personality traits.
  
• Fixed a number of issues that caused players to appear in the wrong position when riding creatures.
  
• Fixed an issue that could prevent a small number of creatures from being customised.
  
• Improved the positioning of accessories on some four-legged creatures.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused some companions to only mine objects that were very close to them.
  
• Fixed a number of issues with the way companions aimed their mining lasers.
  
• Fixed a bug that could allow companions to attempt to locate a building while not on a planet.

• Fixed an issue that could very occasionally cause creatures to use speech options from an incorrect personality type.
  
• Introduced a number of tutorial hints for the first time players who use the Egg Sequencer.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused missing controller icons to appear when riding a pet using Vive controllers.
  
• Fixed a number of creature animation glitches that could occur in multiplayer.
  
• Fixed a glitch in the sleeping animation for blob-like creatures.

• Fixed an issue that could cause companion summoning icons to render incorrectly.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused inconsistent colour formatting in companion speech.
  
• Fixed a number of issues with companion particle effects.
  
• Fixed a number of issues related to network syncing creature interactions.

We will continue to release patches as issues are identified and resolved. If you experience any issues, let us know by submitting a bug report.

Thank you,
Hello Games

Hello Everyone,

Our tiny team is excited to let you know that our first free update for 2021, the COMPANIONS update, is available to download from today, free for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Win 10, Steam, Steam VR, GoG, XBox One and XBoxS/X players!

Every planet you land on in No Man’s Sky is full of varied creatures, but as wild animals players often didn't get to spend much time up close with them. Our creatures are weird, vibrant and surprising, and we wanted to give them a starring role in this update. With the COMPANIONS update, players can now tame, breed, train and even speak to the creatures they encounter.



Travellers are now able to adopt the creatures they encounter and form close bonds with them. They will travel side-by-side with you as you adventure through the universe both as a friend and as a valuable aide on your voyage. Train them to scan for resources, mark out hazards, provide light, hunt dangerous fauna, find settlements, excavate buried treasure or even mine for materials with their own shoulder-mounted mining lasers.

If properly nurtured, your companion will lay eggs which can be collected and incubated. Watch in wonder as the new-borns hatch and grow from babies to full-grown adults! Or use the Space Anomaly’s new Egg Sequencer to genetically modify your companion’s eggs into ever-wilder species.



There are a wide range of customisable accessories and decals if you want to give your companion a unique look. And if you’ve bred a rare and noteworthy creature? It could be really valuable and sought-after. Why not trade their eggs with fellow Travellers?

Creature personalities are defined by their species and ecosystem, such that no two creatures are alike, and their personalities develop further as you deepen your bond with them. Your faithful friend will roam the planet with you as you explore, and can be patted, fed and played with. Upon encountering other Travellers and their companions, they may become frightened, playful or even aggressive, based on their own unique personality.



Every adopted creature is equipped with a neural harness that connects directly to the Exosuit. Your companion’s innermost thoughts will be translated and sent directly to your internal communication channels. Feel the connection with them grow as you play with them, feed them, and go on adventures together.

This proves to be a very exciting year for No Man’s Sky and we can’t wait to show you what else we have planned on the roadmap.



Hello Games had a very busy 2020, and it was heartening for the team to know we were providing some form of escapism for folks. It was our biggest year to date, and we’re enjoying keeping the momentum going as we head into 2021. The support of the wider community has allowed us to continue working on this game we love so much. We never take it for granted and genuinely thank you.

Full patch notes for the COMPANIONS update are available here.

Thank you,

Sean

Hello!

It was 7 years ago this month that the four-person team behind the arcade motorbike stunt game Joe Danger unveiled the first trailer for a new somewhat incongruous open-world sci-fi game at the VGX Awards 2013.

3 years later in 2016, and with an average team size of just six people, No Man’s Sky launched and realized a long-held dream of mine, of creating a game which brought to life the science-fiction novels of my childhood and allowed people to explore an infinite universe and hitherto unforeseen planets.

Today, I continue to be amazed that the enduring passion for No Man’s Sky continues to excite the dev team (still only about 15 people) and fuel their imaginations, and that the community continues to respond positively to our work.

This year has seen our journey with No Man’s Sky really switch up a gear as we committed to increasing the frequency of our releases. From the creative (Living Ship, Mech, Desolation) to the technically challenging (Cross-Play, Next-Gen) to the all-encompassing Origins, the team have released no less than six meaningful updates. It is testament to the well-seasoned, tight-knit team that they barely missed a step on our 2020 roadmap even in the face of challenging conditions.

In terms of player numbers too we have seen our biggest year since launch this year and have been humbled to see how many more people have joined us on this journey. Moreover, we are delighted to continue to be able to boast one of the most friendly, helpful and welcoming communities in all of gaming.

Like any meaningful endeavour, the path to achieving your dreams is never a straight line, nor is it necessarily easy or straightforward. Certainly there have been ups and downs, but that’s what make epic journeys so rewarding.

2021 is our 5th anniversary year and we are excited to show you what we have planned.

Our journey continues.

Sean

Hello!

Four years ago we announced FOUNDATION, our first major update for No Man’s Sky, we promised “It won’t be our largest update, but it is the start of something”. Those words have proved very true, as No Man’s Sky continues to grow and evolve. Each year since our game has changed perhaps more than most, with PATHFINDER, ATLAS RISES, NEXT, ABYSS and VISIONS - making No Man's Sky broader and deeper.



BEYOND came out last year, bringing VR and hugely expanded Online play, and since then we have focused on releasing even more regular updates. SYNTHESIS, BYTEBEAT, LIVING SHIP, EXO MECH, CROSSPLAY, DESOLATION, ORIGINS and NEXT GENERATION have been some of our most popular, surprising and transformative updates – leading No Man’s Sky to have its biggest year to date.



We know there is a huge appetite in the community for No Man’s Sky content, and the team has worked our socks off this year to deliver in difficult circumstances. We have been quiet, but we are always listening and focusing on improving the game that our team loves and feels so passionately about.



This game continues to be a labor of love in the very truest sense of the words, for us, but also for the community.



We're excited to have players old and new join us on this exciting journey as we continue to look forward to next year.



We appreciate your support.

Thanks so much,

Sean