Sure, you can tame some alien creatures in No Man's Sky already, but you can't really make them your pets. At least, that used to be the case. The No Man's Sky "Companions" update will allow you to tame and adopt your favorite aliens and bring them along with you on your adventures through space.
In addition to this, your alien pets will also be able to lay eggs that can then be used in the Egg Sequencer. This will allow you to play God by messing around with the alien's DNA in order to breed a new species. You will be able to trade eggs with other players if you so desire.
Of course, a pet update wouldn't be complete if it didn't allow you to accessorize your new pet. There will be custom saddles, custom accessories, and other customizations that you can outfit on your pet. Play with your pet or teach it to help you out. The choice is yours.
You will be able to train them to look for resources, mark out hazards, provide light, hunt dangerous creatures, seek out settlements, dig up buried treasure, or mine for materials with shoulder-mounted mining lasers.
The full patch notes can be found here.
