With No Man's Sky Multiplayer Coming Soon, Here's Every Major Change Since Launch

No Man's Sky has a huge new update on the horizon, coinciding with its release on Xbox One, and now publisher Hello Games has a released a new video highlighting all the features that have been added since its initial release on PS4 and PC. The list is substantial, including many tweaks and additions that completely alter how the game is played.

When No Man's Sky first came out, initial reaction was lacklustre. The space exploration game boasted over 18 quintillion planets, each one generated by an algorithm and populated with plant and animal life, and your quest is to explore them on your (loosely defined) mission to reach the center of the galaxy.

"No matter how many solar systems you jump to or planets you explore on the 'direct' path to the center of the galaxy, you'll grow tired of repetitive NPC interactions and the planets' implied-but-shallow variety, and you’ll lose interest in new ships--and perhaps the journey altogether," wrote Peter Brown in GameSpot's No Man Sky review. In August 2017, we revisited No Man's Sky when its update, Atlas Rises (which introduced story mode), was released. At that time, Justin Clark found that the game was a more robust, welcoming, and accessible experience than before.

All the new additions across expansions, and the new video itself, are no doubt to attract more players to the game's now expanded gameplay (which promises to grow even further). Check out the new video above along with Hello Games' breakdown of all the biggest additions to the game, since release.

• A regenerated universe--Star systems now have their own wealth, economy, and conflict levels
• Stargates--Stargates allow you to quick travel to any plant
• New biomes--New biomes and terrain revisions mean more variety of planets to explore
• Exocrafts--Three exocraft types, each with their own strengths, enable advanced planetary exploration
• New game modes--The game now has four different gameplay modes:
  • Normal mode: Standard conditions and difficulty
  • Survival mode: More hazards, conflict, and fewer resources
  • Permadeath mode: The same as survival mode, but dying once results in game over
  • Creative mode: Unlimited health, resources, and no building costs
• Base building--Allows you to colonize home plants, create biome-specific crops, and hire alien recruits
• Story and missions--30-hour story mode exploring the origin of the universe, and the ability to take on extra missions from alien lifeforms
• Terrain manipulation--You can now create complex colonies and shape the terrain around you
• Challenging space combat--Tweaked AI means more challenging battles, along with new weapons and bounties
• Interstellar freighters--Purchase, customize, and use a freighter as a mobile base

The Xbox One version of No Man's Sky releases on July 24 (July 27 in Europe), and will include all of the updates that have been released in the game so far including smaller patches. A new update, called Next, will be rolling out on all platforms on the same day, and multiplayer will be coming to the game in the same frame.