No Man's Sky fans may remember that last year saw the arrival of Worlds Part I, an enormous free update to the space exploration game that made some fundamental changes.
Now, Hello Games has revealed Worlds Part II, which is yet another universe-altering update, available free to all players.
The update makes some major changes to the game's unfathomably big universe, making the game even more diverse than before. It adds billions of star systems and trillions of new planets.
Gas giants are one of the headline additions. These are apparently 10 times the size of the game's largest planets, and are tough, endgame locations for the most hardcore No Man's Sky players.
Water has seen further advancements, and is now much more physically reactive. Not only that, but oceans can now be "several kilometres" in depth, and of course are hiding nightmarish sea creatures in the darkness.
Sean Murray himself has been beavering away at a new terrain system that diversifies landscapes even further with grand mountains and other features. Worlds Part II also introduces new biomes to discover.
The lighting system has also been completely rewritten, resulting in more detailed shadows and effects like light filtering through leaves. Bodies of water will also now reflect clouds and stars in the sky.
The update also implements a new quest "that ties together some strands that we’ve been building for years", as well as a new expedition which "takes you on a tour of all the new worlds that we’re building".
There's much more detail in the full patch notes through the link.
No Man's Sky just continues to get better and better, and Worlds Part II is a typical example of how strong the post-launch support has been. It's okay, Sean, we forgive you already!
What part of Worlds Part II are you most excited about in No Man's Sky? Will you be diving back in to check it out? Tell us in the comments section below.
Comments 44
You really have to doff your cap to Hello Games. Very Impressive turnaround and all these new additions really make me want to jump back in
Is it a game you can jump into as a brand new player now?
Genuinely stunning the degree to which they've turned this game around.
@Silenos I would like to know this as well.
@Mikey856 The greatest come back of all time.
Perhaps it's time to try this out
Gas Giants and deep oceans are game changes for me and two things i've wanted for years.
Remember people there's zero monetization in the game, the only cost is the game itself despite there being a system in the game that could quite easily be a MTX shop if HG wanted it to. Its 9 years old this year and goddamn its been one hell of a ride so far.
@jolteon23 @Silenos Yeah quite easily now. They added custom difficulty settings a while back so you can really tailor the game to how you want it.
Fantastic. I was looking forward to deep oceans, building a secret base down deep. Also the water effects from close flying ships. Amazing. Hopefully the update downloads soon
Respect Sean. You done something that very few can actually do. I genuinely feel like he is one of the industries nicest person out there that loves what he is doing and it shows
This update is mind blowingly good, and free!
Cant wait to explore later on today, the ultimate chill out gaming experience!
I need to replay this from scratch. I couldn’t remember how to do anything last time I dipped in. It’s awesome in VR too
I wonder if they’ll have a Switch 2 version ready day 1? Though I suppose they are way to small of a company to have even sniffed the hardware dev kit yet. Maybe to celebrate the 10 year anniversary?
@Mikey856 While I completely agree it's a wonderful comeback, the conditions were perfect for it. They are a tiny studio - the original credits were less than 20 people - and the game sold over 1 million in it's first week. They LITERALLY could afford to keep working on the game for the next decade after that. Similar with Cyberpunk 2077 which made a massive profit on Day 1 on pre-orders-alone.
That's not to take anything away from what they have done - it's amazing, hats off to them - more to point out that when other 'broken' games don't do the same they aren't in the same position of luxury with money in the bank.
Someone tell Sean Murray he can rest. It's been years! We've forgiven you! 😭
The updates keep being more and more impressive. Gotta jump back in to see the new content sometime, it's been a while since I have.
@Silenos I recently started a new game when playing on PSVR2 and it's loads easier to get into than it used to be.
It's also currently on sale on the PS Store for only £15.99 (UK) until 12th Feb.
This is just incredible.
@Brydontk Sean Murray just woke up one day and choose to start a redemption arc 🙏
As impressive as these updates are,and all for free, i really wish they would craft a few hand made planets,and sort out the dodgy muppet creatures.
@lazarus11 Would be impossible to craft a hand crafted planet at the size these planets are, i don't think the engine would even allow it as well.
Hello Games' strategy seems to be paying off. NMS is certainly the most significant asset in their portfolio. The company generated £28m in revenue (£22m profit!) in the year ending October 2023, according to their corporate filings. This was down from almost £40m in the YE Oct 22.
It'd have been nicer if Murray had made clearer what was ambition and what was going to ship with NMS at launch, or launch in early access, but at least the message this success sends is "fix it, and fix it for free".
@DennisReynolds procedurally generated planet , with hand crafted elements would be possible
@lazarus11 Not really as Settlements prove.
No Man's Sky is one of my absolute favourite video games of all time. And they still add new stuff to it frequently for no additional costs. No DLC, micro transaction, live service, pay-to-win nonsense.
This is just one of these amazing video games that are truly special.
This game is amazing.
god dammit. they wont let me put this thing down!!!
@DrVenture69 same here! I intended to restart after the PS5 Pro update as I still haven't played it on 'Worlds Part 1'...now seems to be perfect time.
(glad I didn't buy back at release tho lol)
@themightyant There are more then enough big publishers with massive ammounts of cash in the bank that dont brother to fix games.
@Oram77 Bless him 🥹
@Silenos its been that way for a while now , but they haven't stopped adding and improving things , its a completely different game then when it first came out.
@ManaOwls you do know no mans sky its actually a live service game right? its actually a good example of an evolving game that gets consistent updates and how adding a live service element to single player games can actually make the game better.
Man, I keep wanting to go back to this. Haven’t played since launch. It’s funny because after it’s lackluster reception at release, I went to sell the game on the second hand market and it was going for pennies, so I kept it, and now it’s worth a lot more. Similar to Cyberpunk 2077 where you could have bought a used copy a week after launch for next to nothing and then the value of the game has gone up subsequently.
My biggest take with this is there is simply nothing to do. No matter how many planets there are. Just pure space.
@PerpetualBoredom There's plenty to do hence why i and many others have 1K+ hours logged into the game. End of the day though its a sandbox game at heart so you make your own fun and set your own goals and play how you wanna play.
I want No Man's Sky for my PSVR2. Is there a very damning graphical downgrade when donning the headset?
I think the game is finally ready to be explored by me😁
What's the goal of the game? Is it just to fly around and discover random procedurally generated planets? Or is there some sort of main storyline to it? Genuine question. The game looks stunning and the support it frequently gets is admirable, but I'm not sure what it's about, and I don't like wondering randomly without a goal or mission in games.
Wait, there's a third-person view in this game? Since when it was added? That's a heavy argument for me to finally try the game
@skaarj217 maybe a year after it first released? It's been a major part of NMS forever.
@JustMyOpinion there's several narrative threads to follow that also serve as a way to introduce some of the broader things you can do. Ultimately it's a game about setting your own goals, exploring and discovery. Some people set out to do The Big Goal of getting to the centre of the universe, some aim to make a self sustaining farm to make the most valuable item in game, some aim to max out their ships and gear and inventory... Most of us start by following the footsteps of a guy called Artemis...
@Mintie
I appreciate the response. As I feared, it may not be for me in that case.. I prefer story driven games, however, I may still give it a crack if I can grab it at a discount, just to try it.. Maybe I'll be surprised.
@JustMyOpinion it's definitely not for everyone, the story it tells is good, but also a bit obtuse... but yeah the vast majority of the game is pure sandbox. They always have it on sale during the week of a new update - think its 60% off on Steam (£20).
tried this game but didnt even get a ship gave up after a couple of hours not knowing what i was meant to be doing and dying constantly from gas on the planet
One of the all time best games! This is a game I keep coming back to just to explore and have fun. Absolutely love the new update!
@JustMyOpinion there is a strait up creative mode like minecraft you just explore and build, there is also expansions and story and mission/quests you complete like any other game.
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