Earlier this year, Hello Games revealed that a major update to No Man’s Sky titled “NEXT” would make its way to the base game, alongside the game’s release on Xbox One. Everyone who owns the game will be able to download the update for free, which most notably features the long-awaited addition of multiplayer.
Watch the trailer for NEXT :
We can see that players can now explore planets with other players, doing so in a newly added third person mode. According to Sean Murray’s post on the PlayStation Blog, the entire game is playable in third or first person mode, with added character customization. Visuals have also been improved, with new detail added to planetary exploration, environments, and NPCs.
The game was initially released in the summer of 2016 on PlayStation 4 and PC to mixed reception. Critics and players felt that the game’s marketing was misleading, and the product was not released as advertised. Perhaps the most glaring issue was its marketing as a multiplayer game, which wasn’t exactly true upon release. Despite what you think of Hello Games and No Man’s Sky, their continued support of the title is admirable, and semi-frequent updates such as this one have vastly improved the game. Perhaps NEXT’s addition of multiplayer and other features will make the game resemble what many players had hoped for at its original release.
NEXT will be available for download July 24th on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.