No Man's Sky will not need a PlayStation Plus subscription to play

No Man's Sky will not require the premium PlayStation Plus susbcription to play when it launches Aug. 9, Sony confirmed to Game Informer Australia.

There had been a concern it might be required because of the game's significant online infrastructure and the potential to meet other players in its vast space environment. However, the possibility of such contact is so remote that both Sony and developer Hello Games consider No Man's Sky to be a single-player game, thus exempting its online features from a PS Plus membership.

Sony's statement to Game Informer said that while PS Plus is not necessary, "you will need to be connected to the Internet for your discoveries to register with the universal atlas." No Man's Sky is a game in which players discover, explore and name planets and the species inhabiting them in a vast universe.

When the PS4 launched in 2013, Sony shifted its policy on online multiplayer, which had been (and still is) free on PS3, to require a PlayStation Plus membership to access a game's online features on PS4. A year of PS Plus is $49.99.

First announced in late 2013, No Man's Sky has been greatly anticipated since. It was delayed to its Aug. 9 launch date back in May, news that earned death threats for the game's creator.