No Man's Sky 10th Anniversary Cosmos Update Actually Updates Space, Lets Players Finally Reach Stars
Posted
: Sep 9, 2026 1:00pm UTC
No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games has continued the relentless pace of updates for the space game, this time releasing a 10th anniversary patch called Cosmos.
Hello Games chief Sean Murray said Cosmos is one of No Man Sky’s “biggest and craziest” updates ever, as it actually updates space.
“No Man’s Sky is often referred to as ‘a Space Game,’ it’s a huge part of our game, but we’ve never really updated space since release,” Murray said. “In most sci-fi games, space is just an empty void. With Cosmos we wondered - can we make space feel truly alive? And could we make space feel more like home? What if you could own a Space Station? If you could build star bases, and create alliances with other players.”
Additions include a Star Map, huge space hulks, new space outposts, bio-wrecks, asteroid belts, free-floating orbital bases, space station ownership (one of the most requested features since launch), alliances, and — finally — the ability to actually reach the star at the center of players’ own star system.
Hello Games has launched an expedition alongside the Cosmos update, called Our Journey Continues! It includes milestones that represent one of the 40 major updates since No Man’s Sky launched in 2016. “It is like a museum of each update, unlocking the features of each update as we added them, along with a spacelog of interesting facts and developers commentary for each update,” Murray explained. “It’s been a real joy to revisit some of those moments for us.”
Patch notes, courtesy of Hello Games, are summarized below.
No Man’s Sky 7.0 Cosmos update patch notes:
- Star Map: Warping to a system now, your first action will often be a quick scan of the new star map to reveal a whole new array of space points of interest, each of which unlocks whole new strands of missions and exploration.
- Hulks: There are huge “space hulks”, which can be stripped and salvaged. The physics gravity gun can be used to pull chunks of metal from these wrecks, and can be thrown to a new tractor beam fitted to your ship. Become too greedy, and tear too much from a hulk, and it may begin to meltdown and explode. Scanning first for the highest value rewards is the smart move.
- Outposts: Perhaps you take your new rewards to one of the new space outposts, to trade with alien lifeforms. Here you can buy maps, get information about the area and take on new missions from its inhabitants.
- Bio-wrecks: Beware though, some of these facilities have been overwhelmed by biological hazards, and may need to be cleared out and reclaimed carefully.
- Asteroid Belts: Gorgeous asteroid belts of rock and ice formations boast a large array of valuable crystal resources. Some rare asteroids are large enough to land on and even build a star base on.
- Orbital Bases: Why limit yourself to a base on an asteroid? Free-floating modular bases can be built ANYWHERE in space. Build your own truck stop for star ships, orbital restaurant, or military outpost. There’s something incredibly special about floating in space, planets looming large below you, watching the universe go by.
- Space Station Ownership: This must be our most requested feature since launch… finally players can buy the space station for themselves! Build and decorate it both inside and externally, and some wild creativity is possible. You can create your own themed Station, as your own clubhouse and have friends come and visit.
- Alliances: Perhaps that Station then becomes the place where you found your own ALLIANCE to which you can invite all players to join your new society. As an alliance, you can work together to build a networked empire of different stations and rise the new leaderboards to compete for the largest, richest or most prominent alliance.
- Reach Stars: The center of the solar system is the sun, and finally players can try to undertake a perilous journey to reach the center of their own star system!
Wesley Yin-Poole
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. He's obsessed with fighting games, sports games and first-person shooters. His favourite game of all time is Street Fighter 2.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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