Almost four years after launching on PS4, No Man's Sky continues to receive new updates of surprising substance. The latest No Man's Sky update, announced Wednesday morning, is named the Living Ship Update. As the name implies, the Living Ship Update will introduce organic ships that have attained sentience. Also coming in the update is a new story mission, new crafting materials, space NPCs, and more. The Living Ship Update is available today, free to all No Man's Sky players.
"Beautiful, organic, slightly psychedelic" is how Hello Games describes the new living ships introduced in today's update. These are genuine sentient ships, though it's not clear if their sentience comes into play. No Man's Sky players can discover more about these mysterious creatures by visiting the Space Anomaly and completing a series of new missions.
Expanding on the idea of living ships, Hello Games is also introducing new Organic Technologies. These are unique technologies specifically for living ships, "evolving" them in special ways. They're still upgraded in similar ways to standard ships, but take on a more natural style of growth.
Living Ships isn't the only addition from the update, however. Hello Games is also expanding the types of content that No Man's Sky players will find in space. This includes new "encounters," which are rare mysterious space objects and lifeforms players will stumble upon. These encounters can even offer unique and exceedingly rare rewards. Also new in space are a bunch of never before seen NPCs. These NPCs will hail the player via their communicator and can lead to a variety of special conclusions.
Making the most of the update, Hello Games is also making several quality-of-life changes. Inventory management is getting a buff with a new shortcut for splitting stacks, as is multiplayer exploration with a new way to warp as a group. General performance improvements have also been made, making No Man's Sky a smoother experience than ever.
Hello Games also has a special surprise being put into No Man's Sky as part of the Living Ships Update. Apparently, Hello Games was able to work with Rutger Hauer, the Bladerunner actor who passed away mid-2019, before his passing. Hello Games was able to acquire permission from his estate to use Hauer's previously recorded lines in the game. They'll stand as a tribute for a sci-fi icon in a game that's in many ways a love letter to sci-fi.
No Man's Sky is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.