Hello Games announced today the release date for their big "Beyond" update that was announced some months back for No Man's Sky. This update includes, among other things, the addition of VR support for the PC and PS4 versions and will be a combination of "three major update rolled into one larger free release." As stated, this big update arrives on August 14 for all platforms.
Another big change in Beyond is the switch over to using the Vulkan renderer. This should, in many cases, yield much better performance across a wide variety of computer hardware. With the addition of VR, any performance improvements will work wonders to make the experience all that much better for the end consumer. Vulkan support has been actively tested by the community since at least April, which should hopefully mean that it should be a relatively bug-free experience.
This update also promises to include an "expanded Online experience" that will "bring a radical new social and multiplayer experience" to you. We're still not fully sure what was meant by this, but it sounds exciting. A bit more on the VR aspect of Beyond, along with a lot of first-hand experiences were shared in the release date announcement. You can see a sample of those below.
But first, check out the short "release date" trailer for No Man's Sky Beyond.
Meanwhile VR support will bring the entire game experience to life in virtual reality. Grab the joystick and thruster to fly your starship over an unexplored alien planet as you peer out of the cockpit at the view below. Reach into your backpack to grab your multitool, touch it to switch to terrain manipulation, and carve out intricate shapes with unprecedented control. Play in multiplayer and casually wave to your non-VR friends or fist bump your VR peers. Anything possible in No Man’s Sky, NEXT or any other update will soon be ready and waiting as an immersive and enriched VR experience.
If you want to know a little more about what to expect on August 14th, you can read a small preview from when we let press play for the first time.
“No Man’s Sky is the virtual reality game I have waited my entire life to play†– GamesRadar
“No Man’s Sky feels like a totally different game in VR†– IGN
If you want to know a little more about what to expect on August 14th, you can read a small preview from when we let press play for the first time.
“No Man’s Sky is the virtual reality game I have waited my entire life to play†– GamesRadar
“Murray hesitantly promoting the latest update to No Man’s Sky and us doing our best not to lose our cool. That, I’m afraid to say, is far easier said than done; No Man’s Sky is absolutely phenomenal when experienced in virtual reality. I’m sorry, Sean – this is where I cordially invite everybody to join me aboard the hype train, and there is no turning back this time.â€
“I can’t really describe how it felt. Teetering just above the planet’s surface, it didn’t feel like No Man’s Sky anymore. It felt lonely, exciting, and honestly a little scary. That’s No Man’s Sky VR in a nutshell. Taking something you once knew and experiencing it in a completely different light.â€
