The countdown to the launch of No Man’s Sky on Nintendo Switch has begun, as Hello Games has announced that the ambitious port of their increasingly impressive procedurally generated game will be released for Switch on 7th October.
At the same time, the game will be getting a new physical release on Switch, as well as for PS5, distributed by Bandai Namco.
From Oct 7th for the first time you'll also be able to purchase a physical version of No Man's Sky on PlayStation 5 ? pic.twitter.com/ogWpUvTp03
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) June 23, 2022
The Nintendo Switch port of No Man’s Sky was first announced back in February, but a few key facts have now been confirmed. While you can expect there to be some visual compromises to get it run – namely with the resolution – one thing that has now been stated is that “No Man’s Sky Switch Edition will launch as a single-player experience.” Disappointing, if understandable, and hopefully multiplayer is something that can be added later.
Beyond that, this will be the full No Man’s Sky game. It’s effectively a live service game at this point with endless game updates that will be brought to the Switch alongside other platforms. There’s been 20 major updates over the past 5-6 years and all of that is included. In a nice touch, No Man’s Sky will support the use of the Switch touchscreen for certain controls, in addition to buttons and sticks.
Even since the Nintendo Switch port of No Man’s Sky was announced, Hello Games has continued to add to the game. The Sentinel update arrived just a few days after the port’s announcement, and we then saw the Outlaws update arrive in April, adding a kind of seedy underbelly to the game’s world, and then Leviathan Expedition in May. If anything, they’re speeding up with the updates, not slowing down!
Bringing the game to Nintendo Switch is not the only technical challenge that Hello Games has set for themselves. Originally launching for PS4 and PC in August 2016, and with Hello retreating into their shells to work in quiet after an initially mixed reaction to the game – the lack of multiplayer at launch was one flashpoint – the real pivot point for the game came in 2018 with the title arriving on Xbox One and a bunch of major expansions packed with features. This was followed in 2019 by the VR update which, impressively, included both Windows-based headsets and the PlayStation VR on PS4.
2022 is a huge year, as No Man’s Sky spreads to Switch, has a macOS and iPad port confirmed for later this year, and there’s revamped VR implementation coming to PlayStation with the PSVR2 headset, whenever that is launched – currently speculated for early in 2023.
Source: Twitter
