It’s been revealed that Nintendo Switch gamers will finally be able to get their No Man’s Sky fix in the very near future. Hello Games’ Studio Head Sean Murray has taken to Twitter to confirm an October 7 launch date for the game on Switch. In addition to this, he’s revealed that the game’s Switch launch will also coincide with the title’s next major update.
It has been a little while since we had any news on the next update for No Man’s Sky, with the last patch 3.99 update dropping in early August. That came not long after the game’s “Endurance” expansion, which was released back in mid-July. While those updates certainly added some new content, missions and improvements to the galactic adventure, players have been left hanging for a little while as far as what could be coming next. Thankfully, it seems there isn’t that much longer to wait. Murray has announced that No Man’s Sky update 4.0 will be launching on October 7 in conjunction with the game’s release on Nintendo Switch.
It seems that the reason there hasn’t been much on the news front is that the team at Hello Games has been hard at work making a Nintendo Switch port possible. Described by Murray as a “technical mini miracle,” it probably shouldn’t be underestimated just how much work will have gone into porting the massive universe of No Man’s Sky into a Switch-friendly experience. So, it’s perhaps no wonder that there’s been a bit of quiet when it comes to the game’s next iteration. Either way, players will be glad to hear today’s news and can start looking forward to October 7. Especially those who have been itching to play No Man’s Sky on Switch for some time.
However, there will be a slight drawback for Switch gamers jumping into the spacefaring action for the first time. While the game will include all of the previous content updates from its substantial six-year-long back catalogue, gamers on Switch won’t be able to access online multiplayer in No Man’s Sky. This may be disappointing to some, but it seems as though some compromises have had to be made in order to bring the title to Switch in the first place. Multiplayer seems to have been a necessary casualty to make that happen. In a previous interview with TheGamer, Murray explained that having the game simply run on the Switch was a big ask, in large part due to the fact that much of the game is based upon procedural generation. That’s a major challenge for the Nintendo Switch, which arguably doesn’t have the same technical capabilities as an Xbox or PlayStation console.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how No Man’s Sky is received on Nintendo Switch and indeed, what changes are in store for players when the game’s latest update rolls out on October 7.