Hello! Today we are releasing one of our biggest updates for No Man’s Sky. We can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been working on.
Last year, we released No Man’s Sky Worlds Part I (5.0) for PS4, PS5, and PS VR2 players, and it was one of our most successful to date. We’ve been planning the changes in Worlds Part II for a long time, and the wait is finally over.
One of the biggest reasons people play No Man’s Sky is for that sense of adventure and discovery, that feeling of flying to a planet, and landing to explore, knowing no one has ever been there before. With Worlds Part II, we added billions of new star systems and trillions of new planets to the universe. This allows us to push the boundaries of our engine and technology without changing the things people love about the game already. If you settled on your home planet with a beautiful base that you lovingly crafted, that is safe – but now there are new worlds to explore with a level of variety no one has seen before.
Going to these new systems travelers will notice new terrain, new biomes, new flora, and new fauna. There’s a new terrain system that I’ve been working on for a while now. There are huge mountains to climb, oceans that are kilometers deep to discover, and caverns and canyons at a scale that wasn’t possible before.
In these systems you may even find enormous Gas Giants. These huge worlds can be ten times bigger than any other planet you have explored previously. Gas Giants and deep oceans both require high-level technology to explore. Gas storms, deep sea pressure, and anomalies bring new hazards and challenges to No Man’s Sky.
Water gameplay has much added depth too, including improvements to our submarine, The Nautilus, as well as improvements to fishing and deep sea diving systems. New ocean tech allows water to react physically to the world around it. Dimples appear when it rains and wake appears as ships fly over the surface, and creatures and players can wade through creating waves.
Our lighting system has been completely rewritten. Shadows show more details, sunlight and ambient occlusion are sharper, and sunlight sparkling through leaves and metals looks crisp and beautiful. Starry night skies and wispy clouds reflect in the water of lakes and oceans.
A lot of this new technology comes from learnings and hard work on our next big fantasy game, Light No Fire, which is keeping our small team incredibly busy.
As well as new solar systems and new technology Worlds Part II brings a lot of new adventures. This update introduces a large strand of new quests and lore connecting up some of the storylines and mysteries we have been building to for a long time. Those who relish unearthing the collective knowledge of the No Man’s Sky universe have a lot to dig into.
There is also a whole new expedition to accompany this major update which deliberately serves as a guided tour to some of the best new additions to Worlds Part II. The rewards for completing this awe-inspiring journey are really special too. Not least is a brand new spacecraft which is a cross between a living ship and a jet fighter. It’s pretty wild!
The Worlds Part II update is a signal to the PlayStation community that 2025 is going to be a very exciting year for No Man’s Sky. Whether you play on PS5, PS4, or PS VR2, there’s a lot to look forward to from this tiny but still energised team. We’re so thrilled to be able to keep working on this game we all love so much.
Our journey continues.
