No Man’s Sky is boldly going where no nine-year-old exploratory space sim has gone before: Switch 2. Developer Hello Games has announced a free launch-day update that’ll bring significant upgrades compared to the original Switch release, including enhanced visuals, multiplayer, and more. That’s in addition to a major update for all platforms arriving today.
Starting with Switch 2, Hello Games says this new version of No Man’s Sky is a “huge leap” over the original Switch release, featuring “massively” increased density and detail, plus higher resolutions and improved frame rates (the studio’s announcement video suggests 40fps at 1080p while playing portable, and 30fps at 1440p in docked mode).
Switch 2 also gets multiplayer and settlements – two features missing on Switch 1 – as well as cross-save and cross-play, so it’s possible to jump seamlessly between devices. No Man’s Sky’s Switch 2 upgrade is free to existing users and launches alongside the console on 5th June.
It’ll also include No Man’s Sky’s new Beacon update, which arrives today, 4th June, on all other platforms. This provides a significant overhaul of the space sim’s existing settlement system, which essentially enables players to become the mayor of their own Mos Eisleys.