GameIn
YEAR 2016
GENRE Action-Adventure, Simulation
PLATFORM Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2
ABOUT THE GAME

No Man's Sky is an action-adventure survival game developed and published by Hello Games. It was released worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in August 2016, for Xbox One in July 2018, for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S consoles in November 2020, for Nintendo Switch in October 2022, for macOS in June 2023, and Nintendo Switch 2 in June 2025. An iOS version is planned for release in October 2026. The game is built around four pillars: exploration, survival, combat, and trading. Players can engage with the entirety of a procedurally generated deterministic open world universe, which includes over 18 quintillion planets. Through the game's procedural generation system, planets have their own ecosystems with unique forms of flora and fauna, and various alien species may engage the player in combat or trade within planetary systems. Players advance by mining resources to power and improve their equipment, buying and selling resources using currencies earned by documenting flora and fauna or trading with the lifeforms, building planetary bases and expanding space fleets, or otherwise following the game's overarching plot by seeking out the mystery around the entity known as The Atlas. Sean Murray, the founder of Hello Games, wanted to create a game that captured the sense of exploration and optimism of science fiction literature and art of the 1970s and 1980s. The game was developed over three years by a small team at Hello Games with promotional and publishing help from Sony Interactive Entertainment. The gaming media saw this as an ambitious project for a small team, and Murray and Hello Games drew significant attention leading to its release. No Man's Sky initially received mixed reviews at its 2016 launch, with some critics praising the technical achievements of the procedurally generated universe, while others considered the gameplay lackluster and repetitive.

Source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 — No Man's Sky · retrieved October 19, 2026

Text is shortened from the original article; the full version is linked.

PROVENANCE

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RECORD FACTS
Developer
Hello Games
Publisher
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Hello Games
First release
August 9, 2016
Series
Not recorded
Cover
Official thumbnail
Record ID
Q15297043

TIME SHELF

Across decades

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