No Man’s Sky Update Worlds Part 1 Ushers in New Era for the Game [CNET]

Big graphic improvements and a new bug-hunting expedition are highlights of the 5.0 game update.

A cryptic social-media post Tuesday from Sean Murray, co-founder of Hello Games and the creator of the 8-year-old space sim No Man’s Sky — a cowboy emoji atop a figure made of globes — was a winking preview for a huge update released on Wednesday morning.

Update 5.0, dubbed Worlds Part I, features new creatures, new biomes, a bug-hunt expedition that might look familiar to Helldivers 2 players, improved water, cloud and wind graphics and physics, solar ship crafting and more. 

A patch post on the game’s website describes the 5.0 update as including dramatic planet transformations, including floating islands and overall performance and visual improvements.

The company also released a trailer as well as a developer deep dive detailing parts of the 5.0 update.

For players who’ve been following the ambitious game since 2016, it’s been a bumpy road to get to Worlds Part I. It had a famously rough launch in which some reviewers and players questioned whether the launched game lived up to the hype. But instead of falling into the galactic dustbin of failed games, Hello Games persevered, continuing to evolve the planet-building game and deliver on the promises of features that weren’t available early in its lifecycle.

No Man’s Sky is available for PlayStation 4 and 5; Xbox One, Series S and X; Nintendo Switch; and PC. It’s also included in Xbox Game Pass. 

Hello Games has also been busy with another title it’s been working on for more than five years, called Light No Fire. That game was announced in December.