No Man's Sky
| No Man's Sky | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| VR/AR | Virtual Reality |
| Developer | Hello Games |
| Publisher | Hello Games (Sony Interactive Entertainment co-published the PlayStation 4 release) |
| Platform | SteamVR, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2 |
| Device | Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive, Valve Index, Windows Mixed Reality, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2 |
| Operating System | Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 |
| Type | Game |
| Genre | Action-adventure, Survival, Space exploration |
| Input Device | Tracked motion controllers, Gamepad, PlayStation Move, PS VR2 Sense controller |
| Play Area | Standing, seated, Room-scale |
| Game Mode | Single-player, Online multiplayer (cross-play with non-VR players on the same platform) |
| Release Date | Base game: August 9 2016 (PS4). VR support (Beyond update): August 14 2019. PS VR2 (Fractal update): February 22 2023 |
| Price | Free VR update for existing owners; base game US $59.99 at launch |
| App Store | Steam, PlayStation Store |
| Website | https://www.nomanssky.com |
No Man's Sky is an action-adventure survival and space-exploration game developed and published by Hello Games. It launched on the PlayStation 4 on August 9 2016 and on Windows on August 12 2016, with the entire game made playable in virtual reality three years later through the free Beyond update on August 14 2019.[1][2] The game's defining feature is a procedurally generated universe of over 18 quintillion planets, each with its own terrain, flora, and fauna, derived from a deterministic 64-bit seed rather than hand-authored content.[2]
In VR, No Man's Sky is not a separate mode but the full game rendered for a headset: players use the same save files and share the same universe as players on flatscreen, and VR and non-VR players can play together in multiplayer on the same platform.[3][1] The VR version runs on PlayStation VR on PS4, on PC headsets including the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Valve Index through SteamVR, and on PlayStation VR2 following the Fractal update of February 22 2023.[1][4][5]
Gameplay
No Man's Sky places the player as a lone traveller in an open universe with no fixed objective beyond survival and exploration. Core activities include mining resources, managing a ship and suit, surviving planetary hazards, crafting and base-building, trading at space stations, and travelling between star systems and eventually toward the centre of the galaxy.[2] The universe is generated by deterministic algorithms, so every planet, creature, and system is computed from a seed value rather than stored, which is how the game presents a count of more than 18 quintillion planets.[2]
The Beyond update of 2019 brought this entire feature set into virtual reality rather than carving out a reduced VR experience. Hello Games co-founder Sean Murray described it as "not a separate mode, but the entire game brought to life in virtual reality."[3] Movement on foot and in flight, the inventory and crafting interfaces, the multi-tool, and the starship cockpit were all adapted for a head-mounted display.[1] On PC the VR build offers smooth and teleport locomotion, snap and smooth turning, a field-of-view vignette for comfort, and room-scale support.[6] Hand presence is driven by tracked motion controllers: Oculus Touch on Rift, the wands on HTC Vive, and the controllers on Valve Index, with gamepad and keyboard-and-mouse input also usable on PC.[1] On PlayStation VR, players can use the PlayStation Move controllers or the DualShock 4.[7]
Development
No Man's Sky was the work of Hello Games, a small independent studio led by co-founder Sean Murray.[2] The studio framed the Beyond update as a true virtual reality experience rather than a port.[8] The game built its content from procedural generation, computing planets and lifeforms on the fly from seed values instead of shipping authored levels.[2]
Virtual reality support was announced on March 25 2019 during a Sony State of Play broadcast and confirmed for a summer 2019 launch.[3] It arrived as part of the Beyond update (also numbered 2.0), released free to existing owners on August 14 2019 across PlayStation VR and SteamVR.[1] Beyond also expanded the game's multiplayer social spaces and let VR and flatscreen players share the same sessions.[1]
Support for the newer PlayStation VR2 headset came with the Fractal update, version 4.1, released free on February 22 2023 to coincide with the headset's launch.[4][5] On PS VR2 the game uses the power of the PlayStation 5 to add reflections, terrain tessellation, longer draw distance, denser foliage, higher-quality textures, and refraction, alongside headset-specific functionality such as headset vibration, 3D audio, and haptic feedback and adaptive triggers from the PS VR2 Sense controller.[4] The Fractal update also added motion-control support through the DualSense and DualShock 4 controllers on PlayStation.[4]
Release
| Platform / version | VR support | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 4 (base game) | None at launch | August 9 2016[2] |
| Windows (base game) | None at launch | August 12 2016[2] |
| SteamVR (Beyond update) | Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index | August 14 2019[1] |
| PlayStation VR (Beyond update) | PSVR on PS4 | August 14 2019[1] |
| PlayStation VR2 (Fractal update) | PS VR2 on PS5 | February 22 2023[4][5] |
The Beyond VR support was free to everyone who already owned the game, and a new physical PlayStation 4 edition bundled the base game with VR support and all prior updates.[3] The Fractal PS VR2 update was likewise free to existing owners.[5]
Reception
At its 2016 launch the base game drew mixed reviews and a strong backlash over features that had been discussed before release but were missing at launch, including the nature of its multiplayer; Metacritic recorded a score of 71 for the PS4 version and 61 for the PC version, with markedly lower user scores.[2] Over subsequent years Hello Games released a long run of free updates, including Beyond, that gradually rebuilt the game's standing.[2]
The VR version released in 2019 was received as ambitious but rough. Road to VR scored it 7.5 out of 10, calling it "a wonderful, deeply flawed space odyssey" and praising moments such as launching from a planet's surface into space, while criticising frequent crashes, performance problems, a head-locked HUD, and interface elements carried over awkwardly from the flatscreen game.[1] UploadVR described the PC VR release as a fully realised virtual universe and quoted Sean Murray's framing of it as a "perfect kind of sci-fi dream," while noting that PC input was limited to motion controllers at launch.[6]
As a continuing service the game won Best Ongoing Game at The Game Awards 2020, beating titles including Fortnite, Destiny, and Apex Legends, a result Hello Games attributed to the steady stream of free post-launch updates.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 "No Man's Sky VR Review - A Wonderful, Deeply Flawed Space Odyssey". 2019-08-19. https://www.roadtovr.com/no-mans-sky-vr-review-wonderful-deeply-flawed-space-odyssey/.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 "No Man's Sky". 2026-06-10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Man's_Sky.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "No Man's Sky VR Finally Coming To PSVR And SteamVR This Summer". 2019-03-25. https://www.uploadvr.com/no-mans-sky-vr-confirmed/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "No Man's Sky Fractal update brings PS VR2 support, new Expedition, starship". 2023-02-22. https://blog.playstation.com/2023/02/22/no-mans-sky-fractal-update-brings-ps-vr2-support-new-expedition-starship/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "PSVR2 will support No Man's Sky at launch". 2022. https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/psvr2-will-support-no-mans-sky-at-launch-3347946.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "No Man's Sky VR PC Review: Fully-Realized Virtual Universe". 2019-08-23. https://www.uploadvr.com/no-mans-sky-vr-review/.
- ↑ "Can you use the DualShock controller in No Man's Sky on PlayStation VR?". 2019-08-23. https://www.androidcentral.com/can-you-use-dualshock-controller-no-mans-sky-playstation-vr.
- ↑ "No Man's Sky Beyond update to add PlayStation VR and SteamVR support". 2019-03-15. https://www.gematsu.com/2019/03/no-mans-sky-beyond-update-to-add-playstation-vr-and-steamvr-support.
- ↑ "No Man's Sky wins Best Ongoing Game at the TGAs 2020". 2020-12-14. https://hellogames.org/2020/12/14/no-mans-sky-wins-best-ongoing-game-at-the-tgas-2020/.