No Man’s Sky’s most recent expedition, The Cursed, only ended yesterday, but the game’s developers are already giving players something new to get excited about.
Hello Games unveiled features in a new blog post that will begin rolling out today, including cross-save functionality, PlayStation 5 Pro support, and the return of the SSV Normandy SR1 frigate. Initially, cross-save will only be available to a small group of players in a beta period. But over the coming weeks, the developer will open the doors for all NMS players.
Cross-save—not to be confused with cross-play, added to NMS in 2020—allows players to play on the same save file across different platforms. NMS has long been available for users of most mainstream consoles, but a small subset of players can now jump from one to another and keep their save files. “Players can play from the comfort of their sofa on console, continue an Expedition on the move with Switch or Steam Deck, build an incredible base on their beefy PC rig, and view it in incredibly immersive Virtual Reality,” the blog post reads.
This functionality has been “years in the making,” as Hello Games says in the post. According to the developer, the work required to produce such a feature increases with every platform supported—and for NMS, there are a lot of them. The game is available on almost every mainstream platform you could think of, including Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S, and Mac. The NMS developer has also added support for the PlayStation 5 Pro, including 8K resolution, PSSR support, higher framerates, and more.
Not only does the number of platforms play a role in the amount of work that goes into the feature, but Hello Games says the longer players have played the game can also play a factor. “It’s very common for players to rack up thousands of hours of saves exploring across space, building elaborate bases and cataloging their discoveries, with incredibly detailed saves,” Hello Games said. “Adding Cross-Save for us is a little bit like moving house, the longer people have lived there the more complicated it is to move them!“
To start, cross-save will only be available to a small number of players through a beta feature. Those interested will first need to visit an official NMS site and express interest, and from there, a “subset” of players will be admitted into the beta. Hello Games did not clarify how many people this beta period will be limited to but said all players will have access to the feature “in the coming weeks.”
Even if you don’t get into the beta right away, there’s still something else for you to get excited about. In celebration of N7 Day, an unofficial holiday celebrating Mass Effect, Hello Games is reintroducing the franchise’s iconic ship, The Normandy, back into its survival crafter. The Normandy first became available for players to claim in 2021 in one of the game’s original expeditions. Beginning today, NMS fans who missed out on the fun will be able to start the expedition for a shot at adding the Mass Effect ship to their own fleet this time around.
