No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray celebrates a 1% improvement in Steam reviews because each point is just that much harder to earn than the lastApr 7, 2024 - PC Gamers reported by GamesRadar, Hello Games head Sean Murray took to Twitter to celebrate No Man's Sky clawing another point in its "All Reviews" rating on Steam to 78% positive, noting that as time goes on and more reviews are added, each tick up is harder to earn... Read more.No Man's Sky Orbital Update brings full ship customisation and a complete space station overhaulMar 27, 2024 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunIs there a developer more fiendishly dedicated to giving fans endless returns on their initial investment than No Man’s Sky studio Hello Games? It’s not a competition, mind, but they’d surely be a strong contender if it were. Despite dropping the Omega update just last month, and unveiling fantasy survival game Light No Fire at last year’s Geoffies, the team are back once more with the Orbital update. It looks to be a sizeable one too, with ship customisation and a “complete space station overhaul” among the new features. You can read the full patch notes here. I hope it includes a note about how much sleep they’re all getting, because I’m starting to worry. Read more Introducing...No Man's Sky: ORBITALMar 27, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsHello, Only last month we welcomed a huge number of new Travellers to the No Man’s Sky universe with our free OMEGA expedition, which brought a tonne of new content. It’s incredible to watch new folks getting to experience eight years of updates since launch. Today (March 27th) we are releasing our 27th major update - ORBITAL - and this is a big one! Full patch notes can be found here. The Orbital update brings a complete overhaul to Space Stations. Until now these have been perhaps the only part of No Man’s Sky that wasn’t procedurally generated. Engine improvements have allowed us to create vast interior spaces and exterior spaces, with improved reflection and metallic surfaces. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/c6c9088c35b58c7387f94f424b3d2239811e7501.jpg Outside, Space Station exteriors are at a scale never seen before, and are hugely varied. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/a7554adafb4648f314bff85bed68b0bcbee300a3.jpg Inside, Stations have been transformed, and are now vast, procedurally generated, and incredibly diverse. Featuring new shops, gameplay and activities, Stations are now uniquely customised based on system, race and locale. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/660aeb93a987c37dfea9b3e7d751cabf5af48495.jpg Stations also contain perhaps our most requested feature of all time! A ship editor allows players to customise their ships and players can even create never before seen starship types. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/5d4c2e9a5a3ddafbb545ddab99ba2b7d21729cda.jpg We haven’t introduced ship customisation previously, because so many players love exploring to find the perfect ship already out there to purchase. In keeping with exploration, to customise their ship, Travellers gather and trade parts for their ships as they explore, salvaging the best components from wrecks and ruins. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/35b860265f142592c9db2ce5e368389f7618e663.jpg We are also introducing a new Guild system, making joining Guilds and increasing reputation a much larger part of the game. Visit new Guild envoys on Space Stations to gain supplies and rare items, or make donations to increase your standing. You can own a freighter and even build up a fleet of frigates in No Man’s Sky. Now you can send that frigate fleet on away missions where if they get into trouble, as frigate captain, you can perform daring rescues. Scramble your squadron of fighters, warp to battles, and engage your attackers. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/d809f06ac07f514a9129e0abf2f6851245f68b88.jpg The Orbital update adds ship customisation, transforms Space Stations inside and out, adds a new guild system, engine improvements, UI refresh and much more. It’s a huge update with several major features that have been on player’s wishlists for a long time. We have a lot more planned this year as our journey continues. Full patch notes can be found here. Thanks so much, Sean No Man's Sky 4.6 'Orbital' adds starship customization and a space station overhaulMar 27, 2024 - GamingOnLinuxGod damn this sounds great. No Man's Sky just got another free huge upgrade in update 4.6 "Orbital" that comes with a bunch of big new features. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/03/no-mans-sky-46-orbital-adds-starship-customization-and-a-space-station-overhaul New No Man's Sky Orbital update adds its most requested feature everMar 27, 2024 - PCGamesNNo Man's Sky Orbital is a huge new update for the beloved space sandbox game that introduces what developer Hello Games calls "perhaps our most requested feature of all time," along with several other massive overhauls and upgrades. The interstellar exploration and survival game has been going from strength to strength, with the previous Omega update on Steam and the Xbox app offering a way for players to jump in for free, and now the new No Man's Sky update is bringing plenty of big improvements to the table. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New No Man's Sky update is free to try even if you don't own the game No Man's Sky brings back all its 2023 expeditions in a holiday special No Man's Sky gets new ships, worlds, and enemies in huge free update No Man's Sky finally has ship customizationMar 27, 2024 - PC GamerHello Games may be working on Light No Fire, but they're not done updating No Man's Sky either. The latest update is its 27th and it's called Orbital because it overhauls the game's space stations. In addition, it contains what Hello Games calls "our most requested feature of all time", a ship editor for customizing your shiny space vehicle... Read more.No Man's Sky Orbital update drops today, will let you customise your ship and explore revamped space stationsMar 27, 2024 - VG247If you're a fan of cool space things and/or retro TV shows about rather tacky vehicle maintenance, here's some good news. A fresh update for No Man’s Sky, dubbed the Orbital update, arrives today - March 27. What does it do? Well, it lets you customise your spaceship, for one. Yup, after last month's Omega update, which sent you on a nice expedition that kicked off on Nafut Gamma and involved unpicking "the threads of a mystery involving the past, the present, and what could be…", this update's a bit less cryptic, thankfully. As outlined in the patch notes for it, it brings a hugely-requested feature to the game, in the form of "a ship editor allows players to customise their ships" and "even create never before seen starship types". Read more Gaming's legendary comeback is now free until Monday: No Man's Sky's next big update lets you join its Omega community expedition without spending a centFeb 15, 2024 - PC GamerNo Man's Sky nearly burned up on its atmospheric entry back in 2016—it promised the universe, and only delivered a sort-of-okay space game. PC Gamer gave it a middling 64 at launch in our No Man's Sky review, with Christopher Livingston remarking: "I’ve touched an infinite universe and walked away with some nice vacation photos.".. Read more.No Man's Sky Omega update takes aim at new and lapsed players with free weekend and pirate dreadnoughtFeb 15, 2024 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun's latest Omega update as being geared towards newcomers and "lapsed players looking for a way back in". Hey, they're talking about me! I haven't played the wide-eyed space game since before the pandemic, partly because I only own the PS4 version and now that I'm RPS news editor, I'm not allowed to touch consoles any more. Seriously, they burn my skin on contact. Anyway, let's have a gander at the trailer. Read more Introducing..the OMEGA update!Feb 15, 2024 - Community AnnouncementsHello! Last year was a busy one for the small team at Hello Games, with lots of No Man’s Sky updates and the announce of Light No Fire. We have big plans for 2024, and we’re starting the year off with a very different kind of update. We’re calling it OMEGA, and for the first time No Man’s Sky will be available to play for free! Full patch notes here. Expeditions in No Man’s Sky have become one of the most popular ways to play the game. They bring all players together to the same planet for an interstellar, shared experience. This weekend (Thursday 15th to Monday 19th February) we are allowing everyone, whether you own the game or not, to join the Omega Expedition. This represents a moment for new players to try No Man’s Sky, and existing players to welcome them into the community. There are no microtransactions, no free to play mechanics, just a huge universe to explore for free with your friends. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/3d1ab256b41e82018226371aebe65dd81be6fecb.jpg The Omega update also brings a complete overhaul of expeditions, new on-planet missions, a new pirate dreadnought to own, and much more. Until now expeditions have been their own game mode, but we wanted to fully integrate them into our main game. Now, our new expedition system allows travellers to join expeditions with bespoke provisions, bring along their favourite starships or custom multi-tools and return to their main save with loot and exciting rewards. We have revisited the “Atlas Path”, allowing players to commune with the Atlas and honour it with a new Atlas staff, jetpack and helmet. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/f62df850bf97936087fbd9a5fa9103403b773125.jpg On planets we have introduced a huge array of procedurally generated quests. Talking to alien lifeforms results in quests specific to an alien lifeforms locale, climate and personality. For the first time, take on the universe with a fleet of frigates led by a Dreadnought capital ship. If players can defeat pirate freighters in combat, travellers can board the Dreadnought to demand control. At the core of this update is the Omega Expedition, which has been built from the ground up as a perfect introduction for new players, but with some of the best rewards in any expedition to date, including a gorgeous new starship to explore the universe with. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/57faaccdb36d866aa35b02c44814323799abc52d.jpg In the almost eight years since launch, through over 25 free updates, the No Man’s Sky universe has become at times overwhelming in breadth and depth. Through a series of quick missions and milestones, the OMEGA expeditions will guide you through the fundamentals of base-building, trading, space combat, lore and much, much more. Any progress you make will be retained in case you choose to purchase the game and continue your journey. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/f508937095eb9f804dca45eb093fac0c9cea77f0.jpg The Omega Expedition runs for 4 weeks from Thursday 15th February and is free to play for the first weekend u...No Man's Sky's latest update will let anyone try it for free, but not for longFeb 15, 2024 - VG247Another day, another No Man's Sky update, with this particular one, Omega, allowing for anybody to try it out, completely free of charge. Every time I see that No Man's Sky has a new update, I look at the date and think "wow, still going after X many years, huh" (it's been almost eight years, as of right now). Another one has dropped today, Omega (or update No Man's Sky update 4.5), and those of you who have been thinking about trying it out for a while are in for some good news: from today, February 15, 6pm GMT/ 1pm EST, until Monday February 19, you'll be able to try out the entire Omega expedition completely for free, even if you don't own the game. The official page for the update has all the relevant links you might need to download the free trial, but it's also worth noting the game is actually half-off on Steam right now. Of course, there's the question of what's new in the update too. As mentioned, there's the new Omega expedition, which Hello Games explains that "all participating Travellers begin a journey together on the beautiful planet Nafut Gamma, and plot a course through the galaxy. Explore, build, fight, and more through a diverse set of milestones, and unpick the threads of a mystery involving the past, the present, and what could be…" Read more New No Man's Sky update is free to try even if you don't own the gameFeb 15, 2024 - PCGamesNNo Man's Sky Omega is here, and for the first time ever you'll be able to jump into the new expedition whether or not you own the game. To celebrate the launch of the new No Man's Sky update today, developer Hello Games, currently also at work on its upcoming game Light No Fire, announces that No Man's Sky and its Omega expansion will be available to play as a free PC game through this whole weekend, so don't miss out on your chance to find out just how far the space exploration sandbox game has come. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: No Man's Sky brings back all its 2023 expeditions in a holiday special No Man's Sky gets new ships, worlds, and enemies in huge free update No Man's Sky base building mod tool makes perfect homes easy Sean Murray is risking another No Man's Sky launch disaster, but he knows exactly what he's doing and it's kinda genius marketingDec 15, 2023 - PC GamerHello Games founder Sean Murray didn't have to go on The Game Awards and declare that the studio's next game, Light No Fire, would take place on a planet that's "bigger than earth" and "as varied as a universe." His words didn't get away from him in a Molyneux sort of way: He knows he's repeating No Man's Sky history with a new set of audacious promises, and has actually leaned into the notion that he's living dangerously, reposting memes that poke fun at the No Man's Sky deja vu... Read more.The Next Ten YearsDec 14, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello, Ten years ago we revealed No Man’s Sky to the world, and we feel very lucky to have the opportunity to continue to update this game we love. Next year will be one of our biggest for No Man’s Sky, and we released a video to celebrate at the end of the TGAs, with a small tease of some of the elements coming next year. Next year will be a big one for No Man’s Sky with a lot of updates. It’s been over ten years and we still love working on it. What people don’t know though is that for five of those years we’ve been working on something different and maybe even more ambitious. With No Man’s Sky we created a universe of sparse alien planets, which isn’t easy, but there’s something much harder. For our new game we have created an earth. A planet as varied as a universe, bigger than earth itself. With real mountains, multiple miles tall, that when you climb them and look out you see rivers, canyons, oceans, continents, islands as big as countries. A truly open world. As a kid we always loved the maps at the start of great fantasy books - Earthsea, Narnia, Middle Earth, Westeros - whole worlds. This is our fantasy planet. A single planet we are going to let everyone play on together, to explore and adventure. We’re super nervous but excited when announcing our new game. If folks like it, it’s a game we’d love to be still updating ten years from now. Check out the trailer and wishlist if you like what you see on the Steam page. A little more info… Light No Fire is a game about adventure, building, survival and exploration together. Set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth, it brings the depth of a role playing game to the freedom of a survival sandbox. A Multiplayer Earth Carve a life together. Meet players from across the globe, build a life, explore and survive together. Construct persistent buildings and communities, or strike out alone to discover the world for others. A Procedural Earth A truly open world, with no boundaries at a scale never attempted before. A massively varied and dense planet filled with immersive biomes, unique enemies and valuable resources to discover. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/af5a06a4433884538965f4b23cbb3eca14532701.jpg A Fantasy Earth Light No Fire presents you with an ancient earth to uncover. One where you're not the hero. Thick with lore, mystery and a constant fight for survival. Inspired by the adventure, charm and imagination that we love from classic fantasy. An Unexplored Earth Every mountain can be climbed, and below them lie endless vistas, oceans and continents perhaps no others have seen. Who will climb the tallest mountains, who will find the deepest sea? Set sail across vast oceans and rivers, ride wild beasts through fantastical landscapes, fly dragons over undiscovered landscapes. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/8c2c27bc3c8bf3ffee6b4cf84978b00b343d028d.jpg We hope that you will continue to enjoy the No Man’s Sky journey and consider joining us on a new adventure. Your support means the world to us. Thanks. ...No Man's Sky is bringing back its 2023 expeditions for the holiday seasonDec 11, 2023 - VG247No Man's Sky is giving you a great reason to jump back into it over the holidays, as Hello Games is bringing back several expeditions for a limited time. Most fans of Hello Games are probably focused on the developer's next game, Light No Fire, which was just revealed at The Game Awards last week, but that doesn't mean that No Man's Sky is out for the count. Over on the official No Man's Sky website, a blog post was posted sharing that 2023's community expeditions will be available to play once again over the holidays, the first of which has already kicked off. While it started last week, you'll still be able to play the Utopia community event right up to December 15. As a reminder, this one sees you working with other players to "rebuild an abandoned solar system for the mysterious Utopia Foundation." Then starting on December 15, running until December 22, Singularity will be available to play through once again. "Begin to unveil the history and origin of the harmonic camps in this precursor to Echoes," reads a description of the event. "A mystery that touches upon artificial intelligence, the will to exist, and the very nature of what it means to be alive." Sounds like the perfect amount of existentialism for the holidays. Read more God of War: Valhalla, Marvel's Blade и Jurassic Park: Survival - названы самые популярные трейлеры с TGA 2023Dec 10, 2023 - Gamemag.ruХотя хоррор OD от Хидео Кодзимы и Xbox Game Studios и получил больше всего упоминаний в прессе среди всех анонсов прошедшей TGA 2023, по просмотрам на YouTube лидером оказался уже другой проект - Light No Fire от создателей No Man's Sky из студии Hello Games . No Man's Sky brings back all its 2023 expeditions in a holiday specialDec 10, 2023 - PCGamesNYou can't bring up No Man's Sky without someone saying the words "redemption arc," but the vast open-world sandbox and crafting game has long moved past its troubled launch and subsequent redemption. At this point, it sits alongside the likes of Astroneer, Outer Wilds, Stellaris, and Kerbal Space Program as one of the best space games on PC, and 2023 has seen even more updates along with several big expeditions, each a shared, limited-time journey focused on a specific set of goals. As the year comes to a close, developer Hello Games is bringing them all back for one more go-around, and if you're looking for something different after Starfield then this might be the perfect time to jump in. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: No Man's Sky gets new ships, worlds, and enemies in huge free update No Man's Sky base building mod tool makes perfect homes easy No Man's Sky 2022 expeditions are running again for the holidays No Man's Sky will rerun all this year's time-limited events in DecemberDec 9, 2023 - PC GamerIf you skipped out on No Man's Sky this year then now's your chance to jump back in and see all the goodness they rolled out, as developers Hello Games are taking the holiday season to replay all the expedition events and offer up their rewards. There's even a return of a 2021 expedition, complete with limited-edition golden starship to claim... Read more.2023 Expedition Holiday ReduxDec 9, 2023 - Community AnnouncementsHello Everyone! Another busy year for No Man’s Sky is drawing to a close, and this holiday season we are pleased to revisit our tradition of running remixed editions of this year’s expeditions. Across the following dates, 2023’s community expeditions will be available once more, taking place in new sections of the universe, offering explorers another opportunity to experience these stories and events and earn exclusive rewards. In addition to the 2023 expeditions, we are also bringing back a limited run of the community favourite Cartographers, from 2021. The bundle of rewards includes some of the most popular items from across a number of past expeditions, including the coveted Golden Vector starship – an exciting opportunity for players who missed out on the chance to earn these rewards during the original expedition runs. Utopia: 8th Dec – 15th Dec Work together with other Travellers to rebuild an abandoned solar system for the mysterious Utopia Foundation. Utopia welcomes all contributors to our ambitious new communal habitation project! Singularity: 15th Dec – 22nd Dec Begin to unveil the history and origin of the harmonic camps in this precursor to Echoes. A mystery that touches upon artificial intelligence, the will to exist, and the very nature of what it means to be alive. Cartographers: 22nd Dec – 29th Dec Awaken stranded on the fiery planet of Coul Major, and deeply explore its surface as you work to repair your bespoke starship. Voyagers: 29th Dec – 8th Jan A relaxing journey of exploration, encouraging Travellers to seek out remarkable worlds, reach planetary summits and oceanbeds, and catalogue your findings. Rewards for the 2023 expeditions include the Robo-Warden and HoverDroid Companions, the Fearsome Visor and Wayfarer’s Helm, the Crimson Freighter Trail, and much more. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/3c47591044c2c6e019082d31d1903bf373e3479f.png Cartographers presents some of the most exciting and popular rewards from previous expeditions: the Jetpack Bubble Trail, Feasting Casque, Exotic Wingpack, Streamlined Jetpack, and the legendary Golden Vector starship. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/9164327/bb401f0fce2fd82a239e16c4a0e6d322ec2a541d.png Left-Handed VR Today’s expedition update includes a bonus feature that we have been wanting to implement for a long time: left-handed mode for motion controls in virtual reality. VR players may now toggle their preferred handedness between left and right. The handedness setting in VR links your grip on the Multi-Tool, interactions with menus, selection and placement of base building objects to the dominant hand, while attaching the wrist menu to the secondary hand, allowing left-handed players a more comfortable and intuitive experience. This year we celebrated 7 years of post-launch development and support for No Man’s Sky and 10 years almost to the day since we announced the game to the world at the Game Awards (VGX). It is overwhelming to look back at how much the game has grown since 2016 – and to look ...Процедурно сгенерированный Skyrim: Создатели No Man's Sky анонсировали Light No FireDec 8, 2023 - Gamemag.ruВ рамках церемонии The Game Awards 2023 студия Hello Games (No Man's Sky) анонсировала свой новый проект Light No Fire. Дата релиза и целевые платформы пока не раскрываются. No Man’s Sky Had Almost Half of the Original Launch’s Player Count Return Over the Weekend on SteamJul 30, 2018 - GitHypAfter failing to deliver on numerous promises made by the developers, No Man’s Sky had one of the most controversial launches ever back in 2016.
Now, No Man’s Sky is back in the news… but this time, it’s due to the game’s very well-received “NEXT” update that was just released.
Last week, we reported on the NEXT update’s launch peak of 43k concurrent players on Steam – which at the time was very impressive considering the game’s player base has dropped from its original peak of 212k players to recently under 1k concurrent players.
But since launching NEXT, No Man’s Sky has continued to grow, and over the weekend hit a peak of 97k concurrent players on Steam. Something nobody believed would ever happen again.
NEXT isn’t the first big update No Man’s Sky has received over the past two years. After all the backlash, Sean Murray and his small team of developers at Hello Games have been hard at work adding tons of new features each year.
And while base-building, portals, vehicles, and giant freight ships were all great new features that brought back tiny fractions of the player base, it was true 4-player online multiplayer that helped No Man’s Sky return to its former glory back in Steam's top 10 most played games.
The core gameplay of No Man’s Sky is still very similar to what it was at launch, so most players will likely lose interest again. But with the developers continuing to add new content for free and the game discounted by 50% on Steam, this time more players than ever are leaving with a very positive experience.No Man’s Sky is Back in Steam’s Top 10 Most Played GamesJul 25, 2018 - GitHypWith a peak of 212k concurrent players back in August 2016, No Man’s Sky had one of the biggest launches of any game over the past few years on Steam.
Sadly, shallow gameplay and missing features like multiplayer resulted in the player base instantly declining. And within 1 month, there were under 1k concurrent players left playing No Man's Sky.
Sean Murray and his team at Hello Games stayed silent during the games troubled launch. But surprisingly, as players requested refunds and even threatened lawsuits, the dev team kept working on adding more features, believing that their actions would eventually speak louder than words.
Now, after a couple other big updates that have added new features such as base-building, ground vehicles, and extra modes, No Man’s Sky has released its biggest update yet. And with the “NEXT” update, Hello Games has finally delivered on the most requested feature since launch… multiplayer!
Yep, No Man’s Sky has finally introduced real 4-player co-op multiplayer where you can actually see other players in-game -- and even see yourself now in third person. As a result, more players than ever have returned to give the game another shot, and so far, the reviews have switched from mostly negative to very positive on Steam.
Peaking at 43k concurrent players yesterday, No Man’s Sky has cracked Steam’s top 10 most played games once again at #8. Currently ahead of popular games such as ARK, Rocket League, and Fallout 4, this latest update is the best NMS has done since launching at #3 on Steam two years ago.
Yesterday’s peak easily doubled NMS’ previous post-launch peak of 19k players last August when Hello Games released the game’s 1-year anniversary update, Atlas Rises. A promising update that still lacked a true multiplayer experience which lead to the numbers dwindling back down to an average of less than 1k players each hour as players in 2018.
The hype that the NEXT update has brought back to No Man’s Sky will likely die back down just as it has already multiple times already for the game. But it’s still good to see that both gamers and the developers aren't giving up on No Man's Sky. And with multiplayer now added, the game discounted 50% off, and free weekly content on the way, players certainly have a reason to stick around a little longer than before.
Update: Just a few days after this article was published, No Man's Sky's growth continued, hitting 97k concurrent players on Steam.No Man’s Sky Player Counts One Year After Launching on SteamAug 8, 2017 - GitHypThe little indie game that saw its hype grow to galactic proportions, No Man’s Sky, became the highest played new game of 2016 when it peaked at 212k concurrent players on Steam last year.
But one week after the controversial launch, No Man’s Sky saw its player counts plummet by a stunning 78%. Then less than two months after launch, 94% of NMS’ playerbase was sadly gone.
Things looked grim for Hello Games with all the negative feedback, refunds, and even lawsuits being thrown at the team while the game’s creator Sean Murray stayed silent. But before 2016 was over, the developers returned with NMS’ first big update that spiked the player counts by 10x to a peak of 8k players.
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No Man's Sky Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption]
While the base-building update helped No Man’s Sky show signs of life after the playerbase flatlined, the numbers quickly dropped back down to under 1k concurrent players. Three months later, a second big content update was released. It too brought back a similar peak of 7k players. It too dropped back down to under 1k players per hour a month later.
More recently, No Man’s Sky was discounted by 60% to $24 during the Steam Summer Sale. Yet, despite over half off the price, the player counts barely doubled during the sale. And once again, the gains were short-lived with the playerbase returning to its same core of 500-1,000 concurrent players, down over 99% from its launch day peak.
With the upcoming 1-year anniversary of No Man’s Sky, an alternate reality game called “Project Walking Titan” has lead die-hard fans on a treasure hunt hoping for new races, portals, and/or multiplayer. But at this point, it’s hard to see how even the inclusion of multiplayer could ever return No Man’s Sky anywhere near its former Day 1 glory.No Man's Sky Showing Signs of Life with Players Returning After First Big Content UpdateNov 28, 2016 - GitHypWith a peak of 212k players in a single hour on its first day, No Man's Sky set the record for 2016's biggest launch on Steam. Sadly, 2016's biggest launch quickly turned into 2016's biggest bomb as the hundreds of thousands of early adopters rapidly dwindled down to only hundreds of players per hour after two months.
Since then, things have only gotten worse for the developers with lawsuits, refunds, and the game losing over 96% of its playerbase. But shockingly, after months of silence, Sean Murray and his team at Hello Games have returned with the "Foundation Update" which has sparked the interest of PC gamers. And over the past two days since Patch 1.1 was released, the player counts for No Man's Sky have increased enough to bring the game back from ranking outside the top 1000 games on Steam to currently within the top 50.
Getting into the precise stats, No Man's Sky was averaging around 300-500 players per hour last week on Steam. After Patch 1.1, the game is now averaging 10x that number with 3,000-5,000 players per hour and a peak of over 8k players. While it's still a small playerbase that seems light years away from its record-setting peak back in August, the surge in players is proof that there is some interest left among gamers looking for more in-game content if the team can continue to release big updates in a timely manor.
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GitHyp's No Man Sky Player Count Per Hour Data[/caption]
As you can see when looking at GitHyp's data over the past two days, there was a huge jump in player count numbers, however, comparing yesterday to today shows the numbers are already slightly decreasing with smaller peaks during prime hours. We saw a similar revival with Evolve: Stage 2 in October when Turtle Rock switched their failing competitive shooter to the free-to-play model. Yet, it still wasn't enough to save the game and the playerbase fell back down almost as quickly as it spiked up after the update.
The sheer amount of potential that No Man's Sky offers with its tech gives a glimmer of hope that Hello Games might one day deliver on their over-promised game that under-delivered, but then again, that's how the hype started and lead to the game's downfall. So it's unlikely that No Man's Sky will ever return to its high player count launch numbers unless much bigger changes are made... which, of course, the developers continue to tease.
For those still interested and not willing to give up on the game just yet like the devs, the Foundation Update brings a vast amount of free improvements to No Man's Sky such as: a new survival and casual mode, base-building, alien recruits, faster transportation options, farming, item stacking, interstellar freighters, tweaks to the interface, and more... but, still no word from Sean and the developers regarding multiplayer.No Man's Sky Has Dropped to Less Than 1,000 Concurrent Players on SteamSep 23, 2016 - GitHypNo Man's Sky was supposed to be the biggest game of 2016... and in many ways, it has been. But having the biggest drop in players of not just 2016, but of the last few years, is certainly not one achievement that Sean Murray and his small team at Hello Games were hoping to unlock... and certainly not what gamers were expecting after being promised so much from a game that turned out to deliver so little among its 18 quintillion planets.
At its peak the day it launched, No Man's Sky reached as high as 212k concurrent players on Steam. But within only its first week, the game lost 78% of its playerbase. And now, less than two months after its launch, things have only gotten worse for No Man's Sky with the game dropping to under 1,000 players per hour and only peaking at 2,000 players per hour. That's a 94% drop in just its first 42 days which has taken NMS from the #3 most played game on Steam to #132 today.
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GitHyp’s No Man's Sky Peak Player Count per Hour Data[/caption]
Since the time of our first player count story a week after the game's launch back on August 18, Sean Murray has gone missing. His previously-active Twitter account hasn't been updated since that day and nobody at Hello Games has had anything to say other than releasing a few minor patches. The developers have even gone as far as closing topics they have control over on Steam that address concern and reference the falling player counts.
While many fans still believe there could be hope for the game with the developers originally promising more content to come after launch, things aren't looking good for the future of No Man's Sky. Ubisoft's The Division had a similar 93% drop earlier this year on Steam and despite multiple content updates, the game never recovered. Considering that there's been far more outrage geared towards Hello Games and their game's launch, it's unlikely that we'll see No Man Sky climb back up the charts and return anywhere close to its launch day glory.
Update 1/5/2017: The playerbase for NMS saw a huge increase after the game's first big update in November, however, history has repeated itself and after less than two months the game has again dropped back down to under 1,000 players per hour.No Man’s Sky Has Lost 78% of its Playerbase in its First Week on SteamAug 18, 2016 - GitHypNo Man’s Sky has been one of the most hyped up games of the past couple years... and with good reason. Hello Games' ambitious idea to create a universe on par with the size of our own known universe in a video game was both beautiful and mind-blowing when teased in previews.
Last week’s launch proved that there was just as much hype among gamers as ever with No Man’s Sky bringing in an average of 212k players at its peak and becoming the biggest launch of 2016.
However, reactions among gamers since the launch have been very mixed and there have been a tremendous amount of technical issues reported by players on PC that have caused gamers to abandon their short trips to space.
[caption id="attachment_193179" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
GitHyp’s No Man's Sky Player Count per Hour Data[/caption]
Last Friday during the No Man Sky release, player counts peaked around 212k players on Steam. Almost doubling the prior top 3 launches of 2016: XCOM 2 - 132k peak launch players, Dark Souls III - 129k players, and The Division - 113k players.
And while No Man’s Sky has continued to stay in Steam’s top 5 most played games all week, it has been quickly hemorrhaging players with a 78% decrease from its highest peak 7 days ago of 212k players to its highest peak so far today of 47k players.
Hello Games' dev team just released a patch today in an effort to try and quickly remedy many PC players' problems, but at this point it might be too little too late and the other remaining issues and controversies surrounding the ambitious new title could turn 2016’s biggest launch into 2016’s biggest bomb.
Update: The player count numbers have dropped further down to 93% in the past two weeks since launch and the developers are now locking threads on Steam that source player count stats.
Update 2: The player count numbers have dropped even further down to 98% now a month after launch and the developers have remained silent since the original post date of this article.
NEXT isn’t the first big update No Man’s Sky has received over the past two years. After all the backlash, Sean Murray and his small team of developers at Hello Games have been hard at work adding tons of new features each year.
And while base-building, portals, vehicles, and giant freight ships were all great new features that brought back tiny fractions of the player base, it was true 4-player online multiplayer that helped No Man’s Sky return to its former glory back in Steam's top 10 most played games.
The core gameplay of No Man’s Sky is still very similar to what it was at launch, so most players will likely lose interest again. But with the developers continuing to add new content for free and the game discounted by 50% on Steam, this time more players than ever are leaving with a very positive experience.No Man’s Sky is Back in Steam’s Top 10 Most Played GamesJul 25, 2018 - GitHypWith a peak of 212k concurrent players back in August 2016, No Man’s Sky had one of the biggest launches of any game over the past few years on Steam.
Sadly, shallow gameplay and missing features like multiplayer resulted in the player base instantly declining. And within 1 month, there were under 1k concurrent players left playing No Man's Sky.
Sean Murray and his team at Hello Games stayed silent during the games troubled launch. But surprisingly, as players requested refunds and even threatened lawsuits, the dev team kept working on adding more features, believing that their actions would eventually speak louder than words.
Now, after a couple other big updates that have added new features such as base-building, ground vehicles, and extra modes, No Man’s Sky has released its biggest update yet. And with the “NEXT” update, Hello Games has finally delivered on the most requested feature since launch… multiplayer!
Yep, No Man’s Sky has finally introduced real 4-player co-op multiplayer where you can actually see other players in-game -- and even see yourself now in third person. As a result, more players than ever have returned to give the game another shot, and so far, the reviews have switched from mostly negative to very positive on Steam.
Peaking at 43k concurrent players yesterday, No Man’s Sky has cracked Steam’s top 10 most played games once again at #8. Currently ahead of popular games such as ARK, Rocket League, and Fallout 4, this latest update is the best NMS has done since launching at #3 on Steam two years ago.
Yesterday’s peak easily doubled NMS’ previous post-launch peak of 19k players last August when Hello Games released the game’s 1-year anniversary update, Atlas Rises. A promising update that still lacked a true multiplayer experience which lead to the numbers dwindling back down to an average of less than 1k players each hour as players in 2018.
The hype that the NEXT update has brought back to No Man’s Sky will likely die back down just as it has already multiple times already for the game. But it’s still good to see that both gamers and the developers aren't giving up on No Man's Sky. And with multiplayer now added, the game discounted 50% off, and free weekly content on the way, players certainly have a reason to stick around a little longer than before.
Update: Just a few days after this article was published, No Man's Sky's growth continued, hitting 97k concurrent players on Steam.No Man’s Sky Player Counts One Year After Launching on SteamAug 8, 2017 - GitHypThe little indie game that saw its hype grow to galactic proportions, No Man’s Sky, became the highest played new game of 2016 when it peaked at 212k concurrent players on Steam last year.
But one week after the controversial launch, No Man’s Sky saw its player counts plummet by a stunning 78%. Then less than two months after launch, 94% of NMS’ playerbase was sadly gone.
Things looked grim for Hello Games with all the negative feedback, refunds, and even lawsuits being thrown at the team while the game’s creator Sean Murray stayed silent. But before 2016 was over, the developers returned with NMS’ first big update that spiked the player counts by 10x to a peak of 8k players.
[caption id="attachment_281873" align="aligncenter" width="747"] No Man's Sky Peak Concurrent Players on Steam via GitHyp[/caption]
While the base-building update helped No Man’s Sky show signs of life after the playerbase flatlined, the numbers quickly dropped back down to under 1k concurrent players. Three months later, a second big content update was released. It too brought back a similar peak of 7k players. It too dropped back down to under 1k players per hour a month later.
More recently, No Man’s Sky was discounted by 60% to $24 during the Steam Summer Sale. Yet, despite over half off the price, the player counts barely doubled during the sale. And once again, the gains were short-lived with the playerbase returning to its same core of 500-1,000 concurrent players, down over 99% from its launch day peak.
With the upcoming 1-year anniversary of No Man’s Sky, an alternate reality game called “Project Walking Titan” has lead die-hard fans on a treasure hunt hoping for new races, portals, and/or multiplayer. But at this point, it’s hard to see how even the inclusion of multiplayer could ever return No Man’s Sky anywhere near its former Day 1 glory.No Man's Sky Showing Signs of Life with Players Returning After First Big Content UpdateNov 28, 2016 - GitHypWith a peak of 212k players in a single hour on its first day, No Man's Sky set the record for 2016's biggest launch on Steam. Sadly, 2016's biggest launch quickly turned into 2016's biggest bomb as the hundreds of thousands of early adopters rapidly dwindled down to only hundreds of players per hour after two months.
Since then, things have only gotten worse for the developers with lawsuits, refunds, and the game losing over 96% of its playerbase. But shockingly, after months of silence, Sean Murray and his team at Hello Games have returned with the "Foundation Update" which has sparked the interest of PC gamers. And over the past two days since Patch 1.1 was released, the player counts for No Man's Sky have increased enough to bring the game back from ranking outside the top 1000 games on Steam to currently within the top 50.
Getting into the precise stats, No Man's Sky was averaging around 300-500 players per hour last week on Steam. After Patch 1.1, the game is now averaging 10x that number with 3,000-5,000 players per hour and a peak of over 8k players. While it's still a small playerbase that seems light years away from its record-setting peak back in August, the surge in players is proof that there is some interest left among gamers looking for more in-game content if the team can continue to release big updates in a timely manor.
[caption id="attachment_221227" align="aligncenter" width="770"] GitHyp's No Man Sky Player Count Per Hour Data[/caption]
As you can see when looking at GitHyp's data over the past two days, there was a huge jump in player count numbers, however, comparing yesterday to today shows the numbers are already slightly decreasing with smaller peaks during prime hours. We saw a similar revival with Evolve: Stage 2 in October when Turtle Rock switched their failing competitive shooter to the free-to-play model. Yet, it still wasn't enough to save the game and the playerbase fell back down almost as quickly as it spiked up after the update.
The sheer amount of potential that No Man's Sky offers with its tech gives a glimmer of hope that Hello Games might one day deliver on their over-promised game that under-delivered, but then again, that's how the hype started and lead to the game's downfall. So it's unlikely that No Man's Sky will ever return to its high player count launch numbers unless much bigger changes are made... which, of course, the developers continue to tease.
For those still interested and not willing to give up on the game just yet like the devs, the Foundation Update brings a vast amount of free improvements to No Man's Sky such as: a new survival and casual mode, base-building, alien recruits, faster transportation options, farming, item stacking, interstellar freighters, tweaks to the interface, and more... but, still no word from Sean and the developers regarding multiplayer.No Man's Sky Has Dropped to Less Than 1,000 Concurrent Players on SteamSep 23, 2016 - GitHypNo Man's Sky was supposed to be the biggest game of 2016... and in many ways, it has been. But having the biggest drop in players of not just 2016, but of the last few years, is certainly not one achievement that Sean Murray and his small team at Hello Games were hoping to unlock... and certainly not what gamers were expecting after being promised so much from a game that turned out to deliver so little among its 18 quintillion planets.
At its peak the day it launched, No Man's Sky reached as high as 212k concurrent players on Steam. But within only its first week, the game lost 78% of its playerbase. And now, less than two months after its launch, things have only gotten worse for No Man's Sky with the game dropping to under 1,000 players per hour and only peaking at 2,000 players per hour. That's a 94% drop in just its first 42 days which has taken NMS from the #3 most played game on Steam to #132 today.
[caption id="attachment_202947" align="aligncenter" width="800"] GitHyp’s No Man's Sky Peak Player Count per Hour Data[/caption]
Since the time of our first player count story a week after the game's launch back on August 18, Sean Murray has gone missing. His previously-active Twitter account hasn't been updated since that day and nobody at Hello Games has had anything to say other than releasing a few minor patches. The developers have even gone as far as closing topics they have control over on Steam that address concern and reference the falling player counts.
While many fans still believe there could be hope for the game with the developers originally promising more content to come after launch, things aren't looking good for the future of No Man's Sky. Ubisoft's The Division had a similar 93% drop earlier this year on Steam and despite multiple content updates, the game never recovered. Considering that there's been far more outrage geared towards Hello Games and their game's launch, it's unlikely that we'll see No Man Sky climb back up the charts and return anywhere close to its launch day glory.
Update 1/5/2017: The playerbase for NMS saw a huge increase after the game's first big update in November, however, history has repeated itself and after less than two months the game has again dropped back down to under 1,000 players per hour.No Man’s Sky Has Lost 78% of its Playerbase in its First Week on SteamAug 18, 2016 - GitHypNo Man’s Sky has been one of the most hyped up games of the past couple years... and with good reason. Hello Games' ambitious idea to create a universe on par with the size of our own known universe in a video game was both beautiful and mind-blowing when teased in previews.
Last week’s launch proved that there was just as much hype among gamers as ever with No Man’s Sky bringing in an average of 212k players at its peak and becoming the biggest launch of 2016.
However, reactions among gamers since the launch have been very mixed and there have been a tremendous amount of technical issues reported by players on PC that have caused gamers to abandon their short trips to space.
[caption id="attachment_193179" align="aligncenter" width="800"] GitHyp’s No Man's Sky Player Count per Hour Data[/caption]
Last Friday during the No Man Sky release, player counts peaked around 212k players on Steam. Almost doubling the prior top 3 launches of 2016: XCOM 2 - 132k peak launch players, Dark Souls III - 129k players, and The Division - 113k players.
And while No Man’s Sky has continued to stay in Steam’s top 5 most played games all week, it has been quickly hemorrhaging players with a 78% decrease from its highest peak 7 days ago of 212k players to its highest peak so far today of 47k players.
Hello Games' dev team just released a patch today in an effort to try and quickly remedy many PC players' problems, but at this point it might be too little too late and the other remaining issues and controversies surrounding the ambitious new title could turn 2016’s biggest launch into 2016’s biggest bomb.
Update: The player count numbers have dropped further down to 93% in the past two weeks since launch and the developers are now locking threads on Steam that source player count stats.
Update 2: The player count numbers have dropped even further down to 98% now a month after launch and the developers have remained silent since the original post date of this article.
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