No Man's Sky Beyond promises dramatic changes to multiplayer this summer

Few games can boast such a big turnaround as No Man's Sky. Falling short of expectations at launch, in part thanks to marketing, but also because it was kinda dull, developer Hello Games has since transformed it into an engaging, busy space sim that finally lives up to its grand ambitions. But it's not done. No Man's Sky Beyond is the next chapter in the cosmic adventure, and it should be the largest one yet.

Hello Games has quite a few things it wants to add to No Man's Sky—three updates worth of stuff, in fact—but instead of releasing it piecemeal, the developer is combining everything into one big, free expansion. Details are sparse at the moment, though the first component has been teased: No Man's Sky Online.

No Man's Sky hasn't always had a great relationship with multiplayer. At launch, it might as well have been singleplayer, and even now that it lets you join forces with other players, there are quite a few limitations that create frustrating roadblocks. It sounds like that's being overhauled.

"No Man’s Sky Online includes a radical new social and multiplayer experience which empowers players everywhere in the universe to meet and play together," says Hello Games. "Whilst this brings people together like never before, and has many recognisable online elements, we don’t consider No Man’s Sky to be an MMO—it won’t require a subscription, won’t contain microtransactions, and will be free for all existing players."

That's all Hello Games is spilling for the moment, but it plans to reveal more details when it knows it can be precise. This is also how it wants to keep supporting the game for the foreseeable future, which is pretty refreshing in this DLC-laden era.

No Man's Sky Beyond is coming in Summer 2019.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.