No Man’s Sky getting full multiplayer this summer: colony building, squads, more

A couple of months back we got word from developer Hello Games that its ambitious No Man’s Sky title would be getting some major new enhancements this summer. Just in time for the game’s launch on Xbox One, all of the previously released updates will ship with the new version of the game along with what looks to be actual multiplayer as well.

While the previous Atlas Rises update brought light multiplayer elements, it wasn’t really what players were expecting. In fact, right from the start, Hello Games made it sound as though gamers might actually stumble upon one another in its unbelievably large, procedurally generated universe.

Players quickly found out that wasn’t the case, which was, at least to some degree, part of the reason the game received less than stellar user reviews from the jump. But since then, Hello Games has tirelessly updated the title for free and it looks as though we will finally get the massively multiplayer-like experience we were promised.

Some of the already released updates allowed for Joint Exploration mode which paired players up in-game, but things are getting much more robust really soon for No Man’s Sky’s multiplayer.

Game director Sean Murray announced recently the game would finally allow players to randomly bump in to each other in the game world, team up in squads to build colonies and much more.

According to Hello Games, as part of the July 24th Xbox One update/launch, players will now be able to “explore the infinite universe with friends, or bump into random travellers.” And it doesn’t stop there, it sounds like there are large-scale exo-craft races and the ability to “Build bases from tiny shelters to complex colonies that you create as a team and can be seen by the community…As you voyage together, friends will help you stay alive, or prey on others to survive”.

This is clearly what gamers have been asking for out of No Man’s Sky, and were hoping for from the get-go. While we will have to wait until July 24th to know for sure, it sounds like Hello Games is finally bringing us the NMS we always wanted.

The “Next” update and the multiplayer elements (as far as we can tell) will also be available for the PS4 and PC versions of the game. Previously, we saw the aforementioned Atlas Rises update with 30-hours of new story content, base building with the “Foundation” update and new vehicles when “Finder” dropped. The”Next” enhancement was already said to be the biggest one them all, and today it just got a whole lot bigger.

If it didn’t already pique your interest before today, this update might not be enough to grab you anyway. But, the shear size and mystery of the game’s universe, along with all the new updates is certainly going to get me to jump in next time we get a nice price drop.

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