One of the many titles coming to the Nintendo Switch next month is the ambitious space epic No Man's Sky.
The release of the game lines up with the 4.0 update, and if you're wondering what else might be included, it seems the Switch version is "the focus" of this next game update. Hello Games' founder Sean Murray clarified this in a series of tweets:
"No Man's Sky Switch is releasing on Oct 7th - that's really soon. Switch is our next big release and marks the moment No Man's Sky ticks over to version 4.0. Switch is a real labour of love for us, and the whole team is fully focused on delivering that technical mini miracle
"2022 has already been one of our most busy years to date with Outlaws, Steam Deck, Sentinels, Switch, Mac OS, Leviathan, expeditions + more. The focus of 4.0 is our Switch release, an opportunity to introduce a new group of players into our welcoming community. More will follow"
When the game does launch on Switch, Nintendo players will be able to experience the new Endurance update - adding a whole new level of customisation to the game - from a freighter overhaul to interactive crew members.
About the only thing Switch players will miss out on is multiplayer, with the official game website mentioning how the No Man's Sky Switch Edition would be a single-player experience at launch.
Will you be taking to the skies in No Man's Sky next month? Leave a comment below.
Comments 81
No man’s sky is prove there will be a new more powerful switch console coming soon. Hello Games will not put such an effort in a switch version without a plan to support the game for an extended period.
I’ve got this preordered and am very interested to see how this looks and runs. If it is as the videos and images suggest it’s and impressive port. I believe they could deliver that quality level
I'm grabbing this. I mean, I'm going to wait for reviews to see if it's safe, lol but hopefully it will draw a line under the whole launch debacle if they release a version of the game on Switch that is close to the original PR. I have my fingers crossed that 'mini miracle' isn't just Mr Murray over hyping his game again.
@BadPlayerOne I hope you're right, but I'm not sure it means that.
New content might not come to the Switch.
I'm playing this on my Steam Deck, seeing how it can struggle trying to run at 60fps a lot of the time with relatively medium settings, and it blows my mind how they are about to release this on the Switch.
Like I am expecting a 30fps lock on potato settings, but still impressive.
Year 5, Entry #53
People still believe there will be a Switch Pro.
@BadPlayerOne Honestly, I think it’s more that Hello Games need to put No Man’s Sky onto more platforms to justify all the free updates. They need to find new ways to get income out of their efforts. And more power to them.
I am actually very keen to try this on switch. Especially as I’m upgrading to an OLED on Monday, perfect timing.
@Picola-Wicola fancy pants!
@GrailUK Haha, that made me smile. Really looking forward to it actually, as I haven’t seen the OLED in the flesh yet, just read about how good the screen is, and I do most of my gaming in handheld.
Recently bought this on PC and it's definitely different to any other game I've played. I might try it out on the Deck but honestly the game looks beautiful running at 1440P 140FPS.
@JayJ
Most games are more or less not optimized at all to run on the Deck. So no mystery it might run even more stable on Switch, as developers probably put more than 12 month of optimization for this version.
@Krull In my eyes they redeemed themselves to an extent that I don’t believe they would do something like that. Their support is out of this world.
@MarioBrickLayer that’s not their way. They fought for years to redeem themselves. Updates will come rolling in.
@Picola-Wicola Exciting getting a new console. I’ve got an OLED Switch and I love it! The screen quality is amazing. Happy gaming 😊😊
Yes, definitely getting this day one.
As someone that skipped... well pretty much most of the games in 2022. Really not my year. I don't question it's still a good year for games, but yea, not for me.
Not getting Pokemom, Rabbids or Bayonetta either.
So yes, it's good to finally have something to play. Painfully slow year this one. Adds fuel to the fire that new Hardware is close.
1. Not played it previously.
2. The amount of updates and new content is staggering and it's ALL included in the Switch version.
3. As others have said, I'm confident it'll receive a decent upgrade when the new hardware lands.
The plan at the moment is to immerse myself in this game and come up for air in May for TotK.
(With plenty of GoldenEye inbetween, if Nintendo even bother to release it before May 2023)
@BadPlayerOne I think you're right, but I don't think Hello Games can assume everyone who buys the game now will get a "Switch Pro" or that it will have backwards compatibility...either way, I can't wait to play this game!
It’s nice to hear how hard they worked on this, and Just how much they care for a switch port, which tbh is a nice change of pace.
I hope the review is very thorough for those of us who are curious about the game but have not followed anything about it after it’s poor initial release. I only heard it has a few dozen updates or something that really fixed a lot and added a lot but it’s been so much content it’s difficult to navigate and understand.
Sometimes reviews focus so much on how well/not well the switch version performs that they forget there’s people that just want to know about the game itself too.
@MarioBrickLayer me too! 👍🏻
@Fazermint yeah, it's almost 2023 and people still hope for a "more powerful switch" rather than a next gen console which has all the odds of being a hybrid again (Nintendo's previous golden egg geese, motion and touch controls, have never gone anywhere). Is this because fans don't trust the successor to have backward compatibility? Indeed, their wariness sounds justified after Switch forewent BC for rather self-explanatory reasons and for the first time in almost two decades.😛
@GrailUK I feel that line (launch debacle) has been drawn a long long time ago. They have gone above and beyond with the updates and changes. Teams like 343 should take a peak and learn few moves from Hello games.
I'm glad this is a single player experience because I have no intention of paying for NSO.
@Cikajovazmaj Well, I'm not going to go nuts and say they are a company folk should be following as an example, but I'm glad to hear they put things right
Please let there be a Samus Armour and ship for the Switch version.
Curious to know if it requires an online connection to be played, I have it downloaded on Gamepass but have yet to play it. The portability of the Switch is always enticing. It reminds me of a fully modernized and spiritual successor to the NES game Star Voyager! I’ll probably try it first on the Series X to see if it’s my kind of jam, cool it’s coming to the Switch tho!
@Rainz Doubtful since it's single player only on Switch. 🤪
@Rainz Star Voyager! Now there's a title I thought I'd never hear again. Difficult to play (was still in grade school at the time) but even then I saw it had potential to be something greater. That's a title that should be remade, but I suppose NMS would be the next best thing.
@RasandeRose they said they were working on the Switch port for 2 years.
That being said, I want to see how it actually runs before I get it. Looking forward to it, but this wouldn't be the first time I've been promised the world on the Switch.
Preordered and waiting patiently to try this game out! The concept alone is enticing enough for me - there’s times when I just want to boot up and see what’s out there. It’s why rouguelikes usually have endless appeal for me.
It’s encouraging to see the devs drumming up hype close to launch, too. If they’re genuinely pleased with the port, it bodes well. If not for Nier Automata coming out the day prior, I’d probably dive right in and try this out. The game juggling act continues… 😅
@TowaHerschel7 “… at launch”
Oh that's cool I didn't realize this game was coming so soon. If it runs well and if the game is actually like considered good now after all the updates I might get this at some point on Switch.
On a side note I think it's funny some commenters on here are saying this game on Switch somehow means a new Switch is coming. They're literally putting this game on the current models of Switch, not some theoretical "pro" version and not Switch 2 which is still likely 2 to 2.5 years out. People desperately hoping for a new Nintendo model or system to buy just making up reasons to think it's going to happen soon lol
@BadPlayerOne How is that remotely proof? This is hardly the only good effort ambitious port job for the Switch.
I am really excited for this release on Switch, for the most part. However, a couple of things are holding me back. One is the aforementioned lack of multiplayer on Switch. Its not an "essential" part of the game, but it is a rather large part of the game on other platforms. I'm hoping that it gets added in, as it says that it is single player "at launch". The other thing that is holding me back, is less than 2 weeks from launch now, and we have yet to see anything more than...what...30 seconds of Switch gameplay? I would have expected at least SOMETHING being shown by the developer by now. The trailers make it look like it runs great on Switch, but we have no extended gameplay looks or clips to see how its running natively on my favorite little console. I'm hoping we get more information/videos before the actual release.
@Picola-Wicola im excited for you, I love my oled and really makes the switch feel like a premium product... I play mostly in handheld too and it's totally worth the upgrade 😀
I'm going to get this, definitely. Maybe not at launch, but tops on Christmas.
Oct 6th: Nier Automata
Oct 7th: No Man's Sky
Oct 20th: Mario Rabbids SoH
Oct 21st: Persona 5 Royal
Oct 28th: Bayonetta 3
October is probably the most packed month of the most highly rated games I've ever seen.
No Multi-player? What is this a 2016 PS4?
@Arawn93 Because there is almost no game developer that provides the same amount of free major updates like Hello Games. Every year they release several big updates every other company would expect to be paid for and if the hardware is now already at its limits how will they be able to include those updates on switch? They wouldn’t start a project like this without the reinsurance that they will be able to include those updates for the coming years.
@Krysus you cannot expect multiplayer for a game of this scale to be available on a Nintendo Switch. It’s already a near miracle they managed to put the single player version on this device.
@JaxonH it’s going to financially ruin me 🙃
@BadPlayerOne Dying Light, Crysis trilogy, Witcher 3, etc are all ambitious Switch ports that got a bunch of free updates that didn’t result into a Switch Pro being in the immediate horizon
If we want to talk about sheer amount of updates then there are plenty of those also from Nintendo owned games too
I’m ready. I enjoyed what I played single player on gamepass so if that experience can be delivered on switch I am in.
@calbeau
Star Voyage…a game I’ll never forget. I remember my mom bought it for me as a surprise. I was so hyped!!!…until I played it! Like you said it was a hard game with unrealized potential, No Man’s Sky appears to have captured the spirit of the game, it’ll be the Star Voyager of my adult life 😂
@Highlar these are some of the reasons I canceled my pre-order. That and the full 60$ price. I'll wait. The insanely low install size is...odd. NMS isn't the most stable game on far superior hardware as is. I wanna see some hands-on before I go in on this.
@BadPlayerOne Not sure what point you're trying to make here. Yes it's a programming miracle. But at what cost, we've seen very little footage. And cutting one of the primary features of the game at launch is, concerning.
@BadPlayerOne
You're telling me. I have all of them preordered both digitally and physically (don't ask), as well as the collector edition for Persona 5 Royal and Bayonetta 3, and the gold edition for Mario + Rabbids.
I'm gonna have to dip into my emergency fund and make a deposit at the bank
@Krysus
Should never judge a game by install size, especially on Switch. It's normal for Switch games to reduce file size by 67% or more. Persona 5 Royal cut down from around 45gb to less than 15gb, for example.
No Man's Sky was never large on other platforms anyways. It launched on PS4 at only 6gb. So cutting down to 3.2gb is actually not even a 50% reduction. Other games have seen far larger reductions.
@JaxonH This isn't the original launch version. It's many Expansions later at roughly 1/4th the size. Witcher 3 for example comes in at roughly 35g. Out of a normal 40. NMS relies very heavily on its procedural engine, but I want to see what the cost of all this downsizing actually is. We've seen a tiny slice of gameplay. Even on PS4 you get massive pop-in within a small circle of immediate detail. Given the extremely low power on Switch, that circle and level of detail is almost certain to be minimal.
@Krysus
That's fair, it's never unwise to wait and see.
I just don't think file size is any indicator of anything. Its true it's not the launch version, but it also doesn't have multiplayer, and content updates don't usually take up that much space. On top of the usual compression techniques used when converting games to run on Switch.
@JaxonH the compression techniques are usually shaving on resolution caps and draw distance not systems. NMS is unique with most of it's game play based on systems instead of mad graphical prowess. It's still gorgeous in the right setting, don't get me wrong. But even the immediate detail is a system. The cutting of multi-player from launch is quite concerning to me. Last Gen was capped on MP population in NMS. I'm gonna go out on a limb that the Switch just couldn't handle it at a decent frame rate. Think about a soft game like Fall Guys with it's low frames on other players till it gets below 20 people. Cutting a major system is a pretty big red flag. Hopefully, I'm totally wrong and being Chicken Little about it, but I'm concerned.
@Krysus not sure if it is a primary feature. I am 500+ hours into the game and never used the multiplayer function and the last poll not sure the exact numbers but it was more then 70% of the users are playing it mostly in single player mode.
@BadPlayerOne How absurd is your base now?
@Krysus you don’t want to know how many bases I built and dismantled and built again during that time. I am earning so many units I am exceeding the unit limit of the game by far. Yes, I have a problem🙃
@Krysus
I believe you're thinking too hard about this.
We've seen gameplay. It looks good. Maybe it'll turn out bad, who knows. But file size isn't any indication of anything. 50-70% reductions are the norm.
@Arawn93 I guess you are not a No man’s sky player? The updates I talk about are the size of new games it’s ridiculous how big those updates are and that they are also for free. The games you mentioned are of a limited size they calculated that you need more than 500 billion years to be able to visit every planet in No man’s sky. That is the scale of game we are talking about.
@BadPlayerOne my Lil brother did that. He built one of those Factories. Then got bored when he figured out he beat the economy.
@JaxonH quite possible. Again, I hope I'm wrong. It looked...Ok. In the small slice we got.
@Krysus the economy is a weak point and there are some other areas as well. It’s a game in progress and that is exactly the fun, because there is generally great progress with every update they release.
I am also concerned about the gameplay and frame rate. But I believe they wouldn’t release the game if they hadn’t found a solution. In Hello Games I trust. 🙃
@BadPlayerOne You'll never hear me criticize Hello Games for their support of NMS. It's astounding the continuous updates that we get. I started over on Steamdeck a few months ago after PS4 and XB plays. The amount of content available in the game...I never get over that. My only real concern here is the Switch, Not Hello Games.
@BadPlayerOne I’m guessing you didn’t play those formerly “impossible” Switch ports either with that logic.
Again NONE of what you said indicates a Switch Pro is coming from just that.
No Man Sky port job is irrelevant in that aspect. Reminder: This was a 2+ year port job so this was already getting made without a Switch pro or whatever being a reason.
The fact that the game comes out very soon in the beginning of OCT already disproved that and the BoTW 2 “it will be a simultaneous hardware release!” theory people objectively have a better ground to stand on then your wild theory.
Very curious to see how this is going to turn up on the Switch. The console has its fair share of "impossible port" but this one could be the most impressive yet.
@Arawn93 Nintendo knew already 2 years ago that they are gonna make a Switch “Pro”. And again Hello games wouldn’t release their game on a platform that will not be able to support future major updates the following year. Nintendo is not going to abandon their Switch eco system with a new console. So it is not too far fetched to believe that developers already know more about the upcoming console generation. If you have a game of that scale you are not going to port it onto a system knowing you cannot run a near future update on it. You must know that there is enough potential in the future. All your mentioned games are near finished when released and will not and didn’t not get updates the size No man’s sky is getting several times every year.
@ParadoxFawkes Thanks! I’ll have mine in my hands in about 15 hours… is it weird that I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!?
@BadPlayerOne
I WANT TO BELIEVE. 😆
I sincerely hope you’re right and Nintendo has lined up a backwards-compatible successor for the Switch. I’ve invested in so, so many games and accessories for this platform, I’d be heartbroken (and quite annoyed) if Kyoto HQ pulls the plug for something different.
If I had to predict, I’d say we’ll get a GFoG (Gameboy Family of Games) progression, staying cart-based and compatible and not wasting the huge Switch install base.
Fingers crossed!
@calbeau I read NMS as ‘Nintendo Magazine System’, in case you wanted another pang of nostalgia!
I’ve pre-ordered. Nothing to lose but £32 and a few hours I could have spent playing something else ☺️
It's the kind of game I'd prefer to play on a handheld console. Insta-download.
I was there day one on PS4. Downloaded it and watched the clock tick down to launch. Surprisingly, I was one of the few people who still really enjoyed it at launch. Thinking about being there day one for Switch as well....
Great so the big anniversary update is focused on the worst version of the game 😒
@BadPlayerOne If anything this is proof the game will be even more held back now that they have to cater the Switch as well. Dude the Switch Pro ain't happening, the best we can hope for is a next gen Switch in 2024. Its laughable people think its a thing.
Definitely want to check out this game now that it's coming to Switch. The game came a long way and now has a ton of content, which is cool. I really dig these "impossible ports" on Switch and like to support them.
@BadPlayerOne While I really want a new waaay more powerful switch, I don't think this is proof. I think they release this game on switch because of the incredible install base.
@Fazermint Right! I'm so sick of the switch pro talk, just enjoy the switch.
I own the game on PC but I'm still picking it up for Switch, I play the switch more and I'm a fan of this game. Also just enjoy the switch, why do we need a pro?
@Krysus future updated ?
@Picola-Wicola no its not haha, its good to feel that way about things again sometimes, I hope you're enjoying it today!
@AndyVGR because so many games run subpar and even more so as we're into another console generation... Nintendo doesnt put out enough first party titles to justify us playing only those which are usually optimized pretty well for their hardware, 3rd party games on the other hand we always get the blurrier slower fps version with long load times, it would be nice to have a portable system that can keep up, especially now as the market fills with powerful portable gaming pcs
can't wait to start this on my 14 hour flight. Hopefully it makes the time fly by.
I've run this game on my Steam Deck and it struggles at around 40-45 FPS with a lot of stuttering. Not expecting the same performance from Switch but it will still be a pretty impressive port.
Been playing this for about two years on PS4 and absolutely love it. Very keen to get it on the Switch though, mainly for the portability factor, provided it runs at a decent clip. Not too fussed about lack of multiplayer at launch (funny how many criticising/dismissing it here seem to have missed the words "at launch"...) as (for me at least) that has never been the game's focus.
@BadPlayerOne Yeah because third parties porting and releasing old games totally decides when a new console will come out. (sarcasm in case it was missed)
@SteamEngenius Where did I write that? Not sure if you are a native English speaker, but maybe you should practice comprehensive reading. Not sarcasm just in case you were wondering.
@ParadoxFawkes If all you're worried about is graphics and horsepower I'd say get a PC or Xbox / PS5. I like the portability of the switch and knowing that when I put a cart in the game will work as it was designed for the Switch.
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