No Man’s Sky coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X on launch day with free upgrade

Hello Games’ massive space exploration game, No Man’s Sky, is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X when those next-generation consoles launch in November. Players who own the game on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One will be able to upgrade to the next-gen version for free, and they’ll get some brand-new perks — including 4K resolutions at 60 frames per second — for doing so.

No Man’s Sky’s Next Generation update promises a “lusher, richer and more densely populated” game, with more detailed planet surfaces, as seen in the video above. Those visual enhancements will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as on Windows PC. Visuals on next-gen consoles will also be improved through better looking shadows, greater draw distances, and updated lighting and volumetric effects.

The update will also bring with it 32-player multiplayer and “vast base building,” according to Hello Games. “Players can now work together to build huge off-world colonies, with the ability to construct and render far more vast and complex bases on screen,” the developer said. Like this:

Image: Hello Games

No Man’s Sky players can also expect super-fast load times, thanks to next-gen consoles’ standard SSDs. “Explore the universe instantly with 5-10x reduction in loading times,” Hello Games said. “On next-gen consoles, you can warp from solar system to solar system in an instant.”

On PlayStation 5, No Man’s Sky players will experience haptic feedback through the DualSense controller and “advanced audio,” thanks to PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech. They’ll also be able to play No Man’s Sky with PlayStation VR via backward compatibility.

Hello Games will also let players carry over their progress from PS4 and Xbox One, and continue to let next-gen console owners play with those on current-gen consoles, with cross-generation cross-play.

No Man’s Sky’s Next Generation update comes shortly after another major expansion of the game, Origins. That update, which arrived in late September, added tornados and lightning storms; active volcanoes and meteor showers; never-before-seen flora and fauna; bigger mountains, deeper oceans, steeper cliffs, and enormous buildings housing new discoveries. Oh, and sandworms.

Microsoft will release the Xbox Series X and Series S on Nov. 10. Later that week, Sony will officially release its PlayStation 5 on Nov. 12.