No Man’s Sky gets storm-ravaged gas giants and “trillions of new planets” in another major overhaul

If you thought Hello Games might be slowing down as No Man’s Sky approaches its ninth birthday this year, think again. The studio is already back with another update for its ever-evolving exploratory space sim, and this one’s an absolute whopper – expanding its virtual universe with “billions of new stars and planets”, including fearsome gas giants.

Officially, today’s release continues the work started in last year’s Worlds Part 1 update (its name, Worlds Part 2, kind of gives the game away), introducing a fresh batch of features and system overhauls contributing to an expansive universe refresh. That starts with Hello Games’ new terrain generation system – borne from its work on the upcoming Light No Fire) – promising “more detailed” and “far more varied” landscapes. Players can expect huge mountains and dramatic vistas, with a range of new biomes bringing their own distinctive features.

Oceans, too, have had a substantial overhaul intended to make them more realistic. Large bodies of water can now be several kilometres deep, for instance, and benefit from improved lighting and new visual effects, with Hello Games highlighting its new caustics and light shafts, alongside oceans that become much darker the deeper players explore. And once down in the depths, there are apparently some extremely weird creatures to be found.

Hello Games also says No Man’s Sky’s completely rewritten lighting engine has led to more detailed shadows, light that flickers through leaves, and much darker and more ambient caves. Additionally, water can now reflect the skies and stars, and reacts physically to the world around it – surging as huge ships fly overhead or rippling gently in the rain.

And that’s before we get to those aforementioned gas giants – massive spheres said to be ten times bigger than No Man’s Sky’s previous biggest planet. Players brave enough to venture down to their deeply unstable cores will face raging storms featuring new weather hazards – and can expect an experience Hello calls “truly end-game stuff”. Additionally, today’s update introduces a “huge” new quest tying together various story strands No Man’s Sky has been building over the last nine years, alongside the likes of improved cooking, a new Colossus Refiner, and – for those with an insatiable urge to hoard ships – starship archiving.

Furthermore, No Man’s Sky is launching its next limited-time Expedition (titled Titan) in the coming weeks, giving players the chance to acquire a rare new living starship. First, however, Hello will be wrapping up the Redux version of last year’s The Cursed expedition, which is due to conclude next week. Full details of No Man’s Sky’s Worlds Part 2 update can be found in today’s patch notes, and there’s also a deep dive developer video to accompany the release.