When No Man’s Sky first released, it’s fair to say it was a disappointment. While the game was fun in its own way, it wasn’t even a fraction of what had been promised and teased. But since then, to developer Hello Games’ major credit, they have slowly built the game up to something closer to its original ambition. With the latest update, Beyond, soon to come out, it looks to be the most major rework of the game so far.

In a video interview with Managing Director Sean Murray at IGN, he says that Beyond was actually three separate updates that were eventually fused into one major expansion. It adds a host of new content, including a new hub area we’ve seen already, but also animal husbandry and fully functioning logic and electrical systems, which he claims is advanced enough to build your own version of Rocket League. Add all of that on top of the VR support, and Murray says the update is closer to a sequel, or “2.0 version,” of the game over an update such as No Man’s Sky NEXT was. Check it out below.

No Man’s Sky is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The Beyond update will launch on August 14th.

No Man’s Sky has had a remarkable recovery, going from a game that received widespread criticism at its disappointing launch to – thanks to continuous and impressive post-launch support – becoming a full-featured game that millions are now enjoying on a daily basis (with that post-launch support showing no signs of dying down).

Given that current status, it goes without saying that players across all platforms will want to get their hands on the game. But the one current major platform that doesn’t have No Man’s Sky in its library is the Nintendo Switch. Given its (partially) handheld nature, it seems like a great fit for something like No Man’s Sky (as it does for most games)- but is there a chance that we might see Hello Games’ massive exploration title on the hybrid platform anytime soon?

While speaking with Game Informer, Hello Games founder Sean Murray said that he “loves” the Switch and finds it “super interesting”, but that the team remains focused on what they’re working on right now, while citing things like the game’s upcoming VR update.

“I love the Switch,” said Murray. “We’re obviously very focused on what we’re doing right now, but we have done a lot of work for PSVR to optimize the game. So I’d be interested to see what’s possible. But at the moment, we’re just very focused on what we’re doing right now.”

No Man’s Sky: Beyond, the next big update for the space exploration title, is out on August 14, and promises to be the game’s “most ambitious chapter so far”.

Beyond, the next big update for No Man’s Sky, is coming next week, but the sheer magnitude of the release means we’re still learning more about it. Along with social interaction and full-fledged multiplayer that allows for meeting other players, there will be full support for VR. Today, Hello Games has introduced another major feature via the PlayStation Blog – The Nexus.

The Nexus is essentially a shared social space where you can meet other players. Along with being a meeting ground for friends, it’s good for encountering random players as well. You can showcase your spacesuit and appearance, the ship you’ve spent so much time improving, and even invite players to visit your base.

Of course, the appeal is that you can also be invited to other bases and adventures, opening up the game’s exploration aspects all the more. No Man’s Sky: Beyond is out on August 14th. Stay tuned for detailed patch notes and other features, especially if it’s as big as the NEXT update.

Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky will be receiving the Beyond update on August 14th. This is the update that finally brings full-fledged social multiplayer as you can meet and play with others. On top of this, Beyond will include support for VR (including PlayStation VR). The developer stated that anything from the base game, NEXT and other updates will be playable in VR.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, Beyond will also include “our most ambitious chapter so far” along with something the studio has been working pretty hard on. Further support for the game has been promised for future with more information on Beyond to be provided in the next few weeks.

No Man’s Sky launched in August 2016 to severe disappointment but Hello Games has been doggedly supporting it since. Last year’s NEXT update added four player co-op play while subsequent updates like Visions adding new biomes or The Abyss focusing on the creepier elements. Stay tuned for more details on Beyond in the meantime.

No Man’s Sky’s next big update, dubbed No Man’s Sky Beyond, is coming sometime this summer, but those who own the game on PC have a little extra coming to tide them over during the wait. As Hello Games detailed on their website, the PC version of the game now has Vulkan API support. According to them, PC players should see an immediate performance boost, especially those who have AMD graphics cards. Instead of holding off for the release of the Beyond update, the dev team decided to release it to all current users early, and it is live now.

The patch also comes with some other minor fixes, like revised HDR calibration, some alterations to graphics settings, and more. You can see the list below.

No Man’s Sky is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. There’s no solid date on when the Beyond update will be released, but it’s expected to add VR support, multiplayer, and more. In related news, you can read more about Sean Murray, controversial creator of the game, talking about the game and its future here.

• OpenGL has been replaced by Vulkan. Many players, particularly players with AMD graphics cards, should see a performance improvement
• Revised HDR support, updated output curve in line with advances in HDR calibration
• Adaptive and Triple-Buffered V-Sync are now selectable from Graphics Settings
• Players with more than one GPU can now select which is used from Graphics Settings
• Changing the following settings no longer require restarting:
  • Window Mode
  • Resolution
  • V-Sync
  • Shadow Detail
  • Reflection Quality
• The ‘LOADING SHADERS’ load step has been removed, improving the loading experience.
• Crash data is gathered via Steam to help us track down and fix issues.

The next major update for No Man’s Sky, dubbed No Man’s Sky Beyond, is coming soon and will see its own retail release. The game’s creator, Sean Murry, recently showed off the new cover art for the update on Twitter, which you can see below, that features a slightly sharper visual take than the artwork from the earlier release.

The update is slated to be the biggest one yet to the controversial title, including expanded multiplayer, virtual reality support, and a third major thing that hasn’t been revealed as of now. You can read more about Beyond (including some of Murray’s thoughts on Google Stadia) here.

No Man’s Sky released in 2016 for PlayStation 4 and PC to controversy and a mixed reception largely due to the amount of content in the game, with many critical of the fact that the game did not live up to the lofty expectations that Murray and Hello Games set forth during pre-release. Since then the game has released on Xbox One, and seen multiple updates in hopes of improving the base experience and adding new features.

No word yet on when exactly Beyond will be live, or when you can get your hands on that case for your shelf, but it’s slated for Summer of this year.

Sean Murray, the controversial mind behind the polarizing No Man’s Sky, recently sat down with Game Informer to discuss the newest update that Hello Games is planning to release for the game, labelled No Man’s Sky Beyond, which will add VR support, expanded online as well as a yet unknown third major feature.

It’s unclear exactly how many players the new update will allow to join online play, and Murray isn’t quite ready to say.

“At the moment we’re playing with four players,” he said. “As in No Man’s Sky NEXT [the previous large-scale update to the game], that’s the size of team that people generally had. We’re expanding the game with No Man’s Sky Online, but we haven’t said numbers and things like that. But we want it to be a much more expanded online experience

“We’ve been through a thing where we’ve learned very much not to say things until we’re absolutely sure of what we’re doing.”

He also offered some thoughts on the upcoming next generation of gaming, specifically Google’s recently announced streaming service, Stadia.

“What I think would be really interesting would be to hear about gaming experiences that couldn’t have been before,” said Murray. “It’s cool to hear 10 teraflops, right? It’s exciting. I think a vast majority of people don’t know what that actually means. Having cooler particle effects is great, having 4K or 8K is great, having better anti-aliasing is all cool, but I think all of us would be interested to know what experience I could have that I couldn’t have before.”

No Man’s Sky was released originally in 2016 for PlayStation 4 and PC to immense controversy, with many people being critical of the amount of content the game had as well as whether it lived up to the lofty expectations the game presented pre-release. Since release the developers have released multiple updates, small and large, to continue building on the game’s base to more positive reception. The next step in Beyond will be available soon.

At Sony’s State of Play broadcast for PlayStation, it was confirmed that No Man’s Sky would be available for PlayStation VR in Summer. This will happen when the game’s Beyond update launches. Check out the trailer below, which showcases space dog-fighting, exploration, and co-op with friends, all in VR.

On its own, however, No Man’s Sky Beyond is an ambitious update for the game. It adds an online component that allows players to roam the universe and meet anywhere. Though it’s very quasi-MMO, the developer clarified that it would be free, wouldn’t need a subscription, and doesn’t have microtransactions.

No Man’s Sky Online is only one part of Beyond, and it looks like PlayStation VR support may be the other. In the meantime, there will likely be more features, quality-of-life changes, and much more revealed in the coming weeks. Is it possible that VR support comes to other platforms in the future? We’ll have to wait and see.

No Man’s Sky is currently out for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

After teasing a “small” new announcement for No Man’s Sky very recently, Hello Games have announced a major upcoming update for their survival adventure title. Called No Man’s Sky Beyond, the update is promising to be as big as – if not bigger than – last year’s No Man’s Sky NEXT.

“To some NEXT may have felt like a natural end-point for our journey,” said Hello Games chief Sean Murray, “but for us it was another step on a longer voyage.” Beyond will be a free update for all those who own No Man’s Sky, and will consist of what are being described as three major components. The first of these components will be an expansion of the multiplay elements that were introduced in NEXT last year. Being called “a radical new social and multiplayer experience”, it will require no subscription fees and will include no microtransactions.

“The first component of Beyond we are announcing today is No Man’s Sky Online,” the developer wrote. “No Man’s Sky Online includes a radical new social and multiplayer experience which empowers players everywhere in the universe to meet and play together. Whilst this brings people together like never before, and has many recognisable online elements, we don’t consider No Man’s Sky to be an MMO – it won’t require a subscription, won’t contain microtransactions, and will be free for all existing players.”

The developer hasn’t yet said anything about what the other two components of No Man’s Sky Beyond will entail, but promises more information some time in the future. “We will talk more about each component when we know we can be precise, and look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks.”

“Beyond will be our most ambitious chapter so far, and something we’ve been working ridiculously hard on,” Murray wrote. “We’ll continue to support No Man’s Sky in this way for the foreseeable future.”

No Man’s Sky Beyond is coming this Summer.