No Man's Sky's Massive New Atlas Rises Update Adds Multiplayer

Streamlined travel, new story content, and basic multiplayer are included. 

It has been quite some time since we last heard anything new in regards to Hello Games’ highly ambitious yet ultimately unsatisfying space exploration title No Man’s Sky. However, it would seem that Hello Games has been putting this time to good use as they’ve released a sizeable new update for No Man’s Sky that brings the game more in line with the studio’s original ambitious vision.

Titled “Atlas Rises,” the update (which brings No Man’s Sky up to version 1.3) is massive, adding in a bunch of new features while also revamping much of the original game. You can see just how massive the Atlas Rises update is courtesy of this post on the No Man’s Sky website, but we’ve also provided a succinct bullet list of the update’s key features below:

  • A new story campaign involving a new alien race and over 30 hours of content.
  • A revamped galaxy map that provides more thorough breakdowns of what each star system contains.
  • New planet biomes that drastically expand the various types of planets players can find Crashed freighters that players can explore and scavenge.
  • An overhauled mission system that constantly offers tasks which cater to various playstyles (combat, trading, exploration, etc.).
  • A revamped economics system that brings increased depth and functionality to the game’s trading and crafting mechanics. Re-calibrated analysis visors that show more information and grant rewards for scanning.
  • A reworked user interface that includes a new mission log, a visually improved discovery page, and more.
  • Environmental enhancements which include new assets, NPC dialogue, and graphical options like depth of field.
  • A new terrain editing multi-tool enhancement that allows players to sculpt a planet’s terrain to their liking.
  • A new portals system that allows for quick intergalactic travel across vast distances.
  • Improvements to the space combat system that include a new HUD, more AI difficulties, enhanced ship maneuverability, and more.
  • The ability to fly your ship low across a planet’s surface.
  • New Class S ship types that can be purchased and flown.
  • Join Exploration: a rudimentary multiplayer feature which allows players to see and communicate with up to 16 other players on a planet’s surface (other players are represented by glowing orbs).
  • Quality-of-life improvements such as the ability to summon your ship from anywhere on a planet’s surface.

In short, Atlas Rises goes a long way towards making No Man’s Sky into the expansive and engaging space exploration sim that Hello Games wanted it to be. Best of all, the update is live right now, so if it’s been a while since you last booted No Man’s Sky up, now’s a great time to make a return visit.

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