No Man’s Sky has always been big, but the game’s newest update sounds like it will expand things considerably. According to developer Hello Games, the update will introduce “billions of new solar systems and trillions of new planets.”
No Man’s Sky update adds ‘trillions’ of planets
The Worlds II update expands the scale of Hello Games’ already-sprawling space sim with deeper oceans and gas giants.
The Worlds II update expands the scale of Hello Games’ already-sprawling space sim with deeper oceans and gas giants.
Image: Hello Games
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The update is called Worlds Part II; it follows Worlds Part I from last year, which made the game’s planets more detailed and realistic. In addition to increasing the sheer scale of planets and systems available to explore, the new update also adds more biomes and terrain types. Here are some of the highlights, via Hello Games cofounder Sean Murray:
- “Terrain is more detailed and far more varied with huge mountains and these massive features.”
- “Gas giants are truly epic, ten times bigger than our biggest planet. It’s truly end-game stuff to explore them with huge storms that rage across the surface.”
- “New tech allows oceans that can be several kilometers deep. A new lighting system makes them look so different. New caustics, light shafts and the deeper that you explore the darker it gets.”
There are also new alien creatures, about which Murray says, “I think we’ve gone probably weirder than ever before.” Worlds Part II sounds like it would be a huge update for any release, let alone one that’s approaching its 10th anniversary. As with all of No Man’s Sky’s many previous updates, it will be free for all players — and you can download it today. Check out the full patch notes right here.
According to Murray, some of these features come from tech that was created for the studio’s next game, the fantasy adventure Light No Fire. “The team is extremely busy on Light No Fire,” he explains. “Each time we push our engine to new places though we have this urge to share it with the community, with No Man’s Sky.”
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