Full ReleaseXbox · Switch · PC · PlayStation

No Man's Sky

Hello Games · Survival, Open World, Adventure

Overview

No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe.

Inspired by the adventure and imagination that we love from classic science-fiction, No Man's Sky presents you with a galaxy to explore, filled with unique planets and lifeforms, and constant danger and action.

In No Man's Sky, every star is the light of a distant sun, each orbited by planets filled with life, and you can go to any of them you choose. Fly smoothly from deep space to planetary surfaces, with no loading screens, and no limits. In this infinite procedurally generated universe, you'll discover places and creatures that no other players have seen before - and perhaps never will again.

Now including...

Play with all major updates since launch: Foundation, Pathfinder, Atlas Rises, NEXT, The Abyss, Visions, the 2.0 BEYOND update, Synthesis, Living Ship, Exo Mech, Desolation and the 3.0 update, ORIGINS, Next Generation, Companions, Expeditions, Prisms, Frontiers, Sentinel, Outlaws, Endurance, WAYPOINT (4.0), Fractal, Interceptor, Echoes, Omega, Orbital, WORLDS PART I (5.0), Worlds Part II, Relics, Beacon, VOYAGERS (6.0), Remnant, Xeno Arena, The Swarm and COSMOS (7.0).

And now with added Cross-Save! No Man’s Sky now supports Cross-Play and Cross-Save between a huge number of platforms including PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, Xbox One and Series X/S, Game Pass, GOG, Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, PlayStation VR 1 & 2 and PCVR.

Available for PC and Mac (see recommended and minimum specs for details).

An epic voyage to the centre of a shared universe awaits, allowing you to explore, trade, fight and survive alone or with friends.

Embark on an epic voyage

At the centre of the galaxy lies an irresistible pulse which draws you on a journey towards it to learn the true nature of the cosmos. But, facing hostile creatures and fierce pirates, you'll know that death comes at a cost, and survival will be down to the choices you make over how you upgrade your ship, your weapon and suit.

Find your own destiny

Your voyage through No Man's Sky is up to you. Will you be a fighter, preying on the weak and taking their riches, or taking out pirates for their bounties? Power is yours if you upgrade your ship for speed and weaponry.

Or a trader? Find rich resources on forgotten worlds and exploit them for the highest prices. Invest in more cargo space and you'll reap huge rewards.

Or perhaps an explorer? Go beyond the known frontier and discover places and things that no one has ever seen before. Upgrade your engines to jump ever farther, and strengthen your suit for survival in toxic environments that would kill the unwary.

Share your journey

The galaxy is a living, breathing place. Trade convoys travel between stars, factions vie for territory, pirates hunt the unwary, and the police are ever watching. Every other player lives in the same galaxy, and you can choose to share your discoveries with them on a map that spans known space. Perhaps you will see the results of their actions as well as your own...

From the game's Steam store page.

THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,999 reviews analyzed

What players are actually saying

1. Summary

Ten years after launch, many players see No Man's Sky as one of gaming's great turnarounds, and much of the praise is gratitude: a decade of large free updates with no paid DLC, no battle pass and no microtransactions, a universe you can fly across without a loading screen, and a gorgeous, soothing atmosphere that makes it many people's comfort game. Some newcomers who bought it on sale describe losing hours to it, and veterans with hundreds or thousands of hours keep returning for each update. Building (corvettes, bases, freighters) and the sheer number of ways to spend time are the other big draws.

Bugs come up in more negative reviews than anything else (29%): long-standing issues left unfixed, new ones arriving with each update, lost saves and softlocked quests. Close behind is the old "mile wide, inch deep" charge (27% of negative reviews call it repetitive, shallow or boring): planets and buildings repeat, systems don't connect, and combat is trivial. Players also complain about multiplayer that desyncs or breaks when platforms fall out of version sync, a console-first UI on PC, a slow and confusing opening, and time-gated expeditions. Most reviews recommend the game, and many suggest buying it on sale. Where players split is on whether the added breadth is depth or just clutter.

2. What keeps coming up

What players praise

A decade of free updates and no microtransactionsHigh

Several hundred reviews say this outright, and it sits behind many of the one-line "we forgive you, Sean" posts too. Players list update after update (settlements, corvettes, Worlds, Xeno Arena, Swarm, Cosmos) and stress that all of it came with the original purchase: "No paid DLCs, no microtransactions, no subscriptions," as one puts it, often set against studios that charge for far less. A running joke is players begging to be allowed to pay ("please let me buy something"), and some say they bought another copy on a second platform to support the studio. Longtime owners who left negative reviews in 2016 describe flipping them to positive, and newcomers say they bought it on the strength of the comeback story. Some negative reviewers also open by crediting the studio's dedication before explaining why the game still isn't for them.

Exploration, scale and seamless space flightHigh

Exploration is the most-mentioned activity, coming up in about 15% of all reviews. Players often describe taking off from a planet, breaking through the atmosphere, and landing on another world with no loading screen, and many say it still thrills them after hundreds of hours. They love being the first to discover and name a planet or creature and the "what's over that ridge" pull, and they compare it to Minecraft, Subnautica and Spore in space. Several contrast it favorably with Starfield and Star Citizen on exactly this point. Critics turn the same scale against it (see the depth debate below).

Beauty, music and a relaxing moodHigh

Visuals, skies and lighting draw frequent praise, and the 65daysofstatic soundtrack gets named repeatedly. Many players describe the game as their chill, cozy or "turn off my brain" game, something to play after work or while listening to a podcast. Players describe relaxed and creative difficulty settings, and the option to switch off resource costs, as part of what makes it a comfort game. A minority find the colors oversaturated or the art cartoonish, and a few say the graphics look dated by 2026 standards.

Building ships, bases, freighters and settlementsMedium

The Voyagers corvette update draws much of this praise: players love designing a walkable ship that works as a mobile base, and several say it is the reason they came back. Base building (including underwater), freighter fleets, settlements and ship hunting for an S-class dream ship all get enthusiastic mentions. Builders also list problems: corvette parts are limited, many showcase builds require "glitch building", the camera misbehaves on tall builds, and snapping and wiring are clunky (see the building complaints under frustrations).

Play it your way: breadth and freedomMedium

Reviewers love reeling off the list of what you can be: trader, pirate, bounty hunter, farmer, fisher, fleet commander, settlement overseer, creature collector. Players present the game's openness as its core appeal ("the game lets you play your way"), with custom difficulty ranging from creative mode to permadeath.

VR modeLow

A steady stream of VR players call it one of the best VR experiences available, especially sitting in a cockpit or stepping onto a freighter deck. The praise comes with requests: the HUD doesn't follow the headset, performance on Quest via link is demanding, and a few report crashes or motion sickness.

Runs on modest hardware, Steam Deck and LinuxLow

Players are often surprised it runs well on old laptops, integrated graphics, the Steam Deck and Linux, and some praise the Mac port's MetalFX. A smaller set of reviews reports the opposite on similar hardware (see crashes and performance).

A friendly communityLow

The Anomaly hub, gifts from strangers, and helpful veterans come up as a pleasant surprise, and some players say the community carries new players through the confusing early hours.

Where players are split

Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddleHigh

This is the core disagreement and the most frequent gameplay complaint: 27% of negative reviews call the game repetitive, shallow, empty or boring, and the phrase "mile wide, inch deep" appears on both sides. Critics describe the same handful of buildings, space stations and creature templates across every planet, single-biome worlds, systems stacked "horizontally" without tying into each other, upgrades and currencies that pile up with nothing to spend them on, and no real endgame once the story is done. Several with 100 to 400 hours say they got their money's worth but ran out of reasons to keep going. Defenders answer that the game is a sandbox you bring your own goals to, and some concede part of the point while still recommending it ("there's some truth to that, but an inch is being unfair"). This complaint shows up across all playtimes, including many at 25 to 50 hours who have seen enough of the loop to judge it.

Grind, survival upkeep and real-time timersMedium

For some players the constant refueling of launch thrusters, hazard protection and life support, plus inventory juggling, is a chore; others call the grind satisfying or turn it off in custom settings. Real-time waits draw harsher words: settlement construction, frigate missions, nanite and salvaged-data costs, and quest chains that make you wait an hour to continue. Grind complaints come mostly from players past 25 hours.

A slow, confusing openingMedium

Some positive reviews admit it took them two or three tries, or several hours, before the game clicked, and advise pushing through. Negative short-playtime reviews are harsher: an overlong tutorial that can't be skipped, objectives that disappear from the HUD, no clear list of controls, a hostile starter planet, and needing YouTube or Google to understand basics. Onboarding and UI confusion make up a far larger share of complaints among negative reviewers under 10 hours (13 to 16%) than among those past 50 hours (5 to 7%).

Combat and flightMedium

Some players enjoy the dogfights and the Swarm update's added combat, while others find combat trivial: space fights boil down to holding the lock-on key and firing, sentinels are a nuisance rather than a threat, and fauna rarely attacks. Flight splits arcade fans from sim fans. Players coming from Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen miss strafing, HOTAS support and manual control (a few call auto-leveling and the automatic landing button deal breakers), while others say simple flight keeps the game approachable.

Expeditions and the SwarmMedium

Expeditions are many veterans' favorite content, and they also draw angry complaints from long-term players: 17% of negative reviews from players past 50 hours mention them, against almost none from newer players. Complaints cover time-limited rewards (FOMO), and in particular the Swarm expedition in late May 2026: random faction assignment behind a "personality quiz", progress gated on a community timer, teammates set against each other, bugs that blocked progress, lag with crowds of players, and griefers building over objectives. Other players loved the same expedition's combat and events.

The story and loreLow

Some players rate the Atlas and Artemis storylines as thought-provoking and emotional, and the language-learning mechanic charms many. Others find the story vague, the dialogue a slog, and the word-by-word translation tedious, and a few say they simply ignored the story.

Xeno Arena pet battlesLow

Creature battles delighted a group of players ("they basically added Pokemon") and pulled some back into the game. Others see it as a symptom of new features being bolted on instead of fixing old ones, and a few veterans complain that a later update slowed arena leveling to a crawl.

Is it worth the full price?Low

Most who mention price say it is worth it or buy on sale, and the frequent discounts are a common tip. A minority argue that the full price is too high for a ten-year-old game with unresolved bugs.

What frustrates players

Bugs that stay unfixed while new updates add moreHigh

Bugs are raised in 29% of negative reviews and 41% of negative reviews from players past 50 hours. Players describe lost or corrupted saves, ships or corvette modules vanishing after a swap or storage, falling through freighter and corvette floors, getting stuck in walls, softlocked story quests and dialogue loops, mission markers disappearing, salvage and Nexus missions not completing, missing items after death or from storage, creatures that never spawn for scan completion, and base terrain regrowing. Veterans object to the pattern as much as to any single bug: known issues go years without a fix while each new feature arrives with fresh bugs. Support that sends automated replies and forums without developer responses add to the anger. Some positive reviews accept the "jank" as the price of admission.

Multiplayer that desyncs or won't connectMedium

Many people buy the game to play co-op with a partner or friends, and co-op problems are a common reason for negative reviews. Complaints include desync where the non-host sees a broken world, shared quests and bases that don't work, missions that fail in co-op, voice chat needing system permission fixes, connection errors, and PC updates arriving days before console or Switch 2 builds so cross-platform groups can't play together. Several describe PvP being on by default and griefing in the Anomaly and during expeditions. Some players praise how easy drop-in co-op is when it works.

Crashes, stutter and platform-specific instabilityMedium

Crashes on launch, infinite loading screens, black or white screens on load, Vulkan failures, VRAM that climbs until performance collapses, and stutter on busy planets appear throughout, with bursts after major updates (Worlds, Swarm, Cosmos). Mac users with high-end Apple Silicon report repeated GPU hangs, and a few Intel Arc, AMD and PlayStation-controller users describe the game being unplayable for them. These complaints make up a similar share of negative reviews at every playtime, so they hit first-hour buyers and veterans alike.

A console-first UI, inventory and PC controlsMedium

UI complaints appear in 11% of negative reviews. The repeated gripes are hold-to-confirm on nearly every action, menus that sway with the mouse, a cluttered HUD with constant notifications and milestone banners that block the screen, quests that can't be untracked, no inventory search or sort, crafting that requires clicking empty slots, no bulk crafting, and keybinds that can't all be remapped. Mouse-and-keyboard players say the game clearly expects a controller, while some controller users report Steam Input breaking after updates.

Building tools that fight youLow

Players report terrain regrowing inside bases, poor snapping for freestanding parts, a limited corvette part list, a build limit that many bypass with mods, and a rework of build mode that some veterans disliked.

Accessibility gapsLow

A handful of players say they physically can't play: the setting to disable button holding only applies to menus, flashing and brightness effects can't be fully turned off, audio mixing is loud, and some players get motion sickness from building or flight.

3. The player conversation

The tone is warm, nostalgic and often playful. Many reviews are one-liners celebrating the comeback, and longer reviews tend to open with the 2016 launch before explaining why the game won them over. Negative reviews are often polite: many credit the studio's dedication, acknowledge they sank dozens or hundreds of hours in, and then explain that repetition, bugs or broken co-op finally wore them down.

Who raises what shifts with playtime. Players under 10 hours who dislike it point to the tutorial, confusing controls and UI, and crashes on launch. Players in the 10 to 50 hour range lead with repetition and shallowness. Players past 50 hours focus on accumulated bugs, lost progress, the multiplayer state, and expedition design. Over the period covered, sentiment moved with the update cycle: it dipped slightly in the week after the Swarm expedition launched in early June (88% positive, against 92% the week before), rose to its highest point around the tenth anniversary in August (94%), and held around 90 to 92% through the Cosmos update in September despite a wave of crash reports, as the anniversary sale brought in many first-time players.

4. What the developers could do

Ship a dedicated stability update before the next feature drop. Bugs come up in more negative reviews than any other complaint, especially among veterans, who describe lost saves, vanishing ships and modules, softlocked quests and terrain regrowth left unfixed for years while new features add more.
Make co-op reliable and keep every platform on the same version. Friends and couples who bought the game to play together describe desync, quests and bases that can't be shared, and PC updates that lock out their PlayStation, Xbox or Switch 2 partners for days.
Tie the existing systems together and give late-game players something to aim for. The "mile wide, inch deep" critique is the most frequent gameplay complaint, with players asking for more planet and structure variety, combat that poses a threat, and a reason to use their maxed-out ships, credits and nanites.
Rebuild the PC interface and inventory. Mouse-and-keyboard players repeatedly cite hold-to-confirm everywhere, swaying menus, notification banners that block the screen, quests that can't be untracked, no inventory search or sort, and keys that can't be rebound.
Shorten and clarify the opening hours. Short-playtime negative reviews focus on an unskippable, overlong tutorial, vanishing objective markers, and having to look up basic controls, and some happy players say it took several attempts to click.
Rethink time-gated expedition design. Long-term players object to FOMO rewards and the Swarm expedition's random factions, community-timer gates, lag and griefing, and ask for reruns, permanent rewards, and PvP and building restrictions around objectives.
Fix launch crashes and platform-specific performance. Crash-on-load, Vulkan and VRAM problems after big updates, Mac GPU hangs, and demanding VR performance turn away first-hour buyers and returning veterans alike.
Add accessibility and control options. Players ask for a full toggle to replace hold actions, stronger flashing and brightness reduction, separate audio sliders, a head-locked VR HUD, and native HOTAS support.