No Man’s Sky turned ten in August 2026, and a month later Hello Games released Cosmos, an update aimed at the part of the game the studio says it had never really revisited since release: space itself. That pairing makes this a natural moment to check in. The aim here is not to list everything Cosmos added, but to ask what the accumulated decade means for someone playing today: which pleasures have lasted, which frustrations remain, and who the current game suits.
At a Glance
- Still praised: Exploration: in the reviewed reports, players still value flying from orbit to a planet’s surface and choosing their own direction, though some say the sense of endlessness wears off.
- Still frustrating: Repetition: in the reviewed reports, some players say the gather-and-move-on loop criticised in 2016 still wears on them, while others say the grind does not bother them.
- Changed since launch: Since launch, Hello Games has kept adding major updates; Cosmos, released on September 9, 2026, finally turns attention to space and lets players own a space station.
What Still Works
The pleasure that has lasted longest is the freedom to wander. Some launch-window reviewers in 2016 already loved the quiet, open-ended exploration, and the current accounts praise the same thing: leaving a ship in orbit, dropping toward a planet without a loading screen, and deciding where to go next without the game insisting on a route. Several describe it as a relaxing game to settle into, with music and scenery doing much of the work. In the reviewed reports, reactions differ on how long that wonder lasts, and one current reviewer says the sense of endlessness breaks once familiar patterns start to repeat.
What a decade of updates has added is choice. Players who enjoy the current game describe drifting from a base project to a new ship, from story missions to trade runs or creature hunting, and settling on whichever activity appeals that week. Advice to newcomers often runs the same way: sample what is on offer, then focus on the part you like. For these players the breadth is the point rather than a distraction, and it lets the same save support very different kinds of sessions.
Returning players add their own perspective. In the reviewed reports, some who bought or refunded the game at launch in 2016 and came back years later describe it as far broader than the version they remember, and one player who was bored within ten hours at first says a second attempt with a different approach stuck. These are recollections rather than records from 2016, and reactions differ: some returning players say there is much more to do now but it still does not hold them.
What Still Frustrates Players
The criticism heard most clearly today is the flip side of that breadth. Some players say the systems added over the years feel disconnected or shallow: a corvette or settlement can be built, but little else in the game asks them to use it, and progress can leave a player overpowered with the challenge fading. Some of these critics still recommend the game. Others reply that it is meant to be a laid-back sandbox rather than a tightly integrated one, so reactions differ on whether this is a flaw or the design.
An older complaint persists alongside it. Launch-window reviews in 2016 described mining resources to fuel the ship, warping onward and repeating, on planets that soon looked like variations of a few templates. Some current players describe a similar feeling now, saying the loop of gathering, scanning and crafting still turns repetitive and that planets begin to seem alike. In the reviewed reports, others say the grind is central to the game but does not bore them, or that it suits short sessions.
Accumulated content has also made the start harder to read. Some newer and returning players describe the game as overwhelming at first, unsure where to begin on an old save or how new features fit in, and some find the first hours tedious because storage is so limited. In the reviewed reports, others say the guided missions, the in-game log and the anniversary expedition teach the basics to anyone willing to read them, so reactions differ on whether the learning curve is a barrier or simply part of the game.
Stability is the most recent frustration. Since the Cosmos update, some players report bugs affecting expeditions, missions, saves, multiplayer and stability, including one account of a stuck mission on Switch. Others say the game runs well for them, including on a handheld PC and an older computer, or that the worst expedition bugs had been fixed by the time they played. In the reviewed reports, these problems appear to depend on the system and the activity rather than affecting everyone.
What Has Changed Since Launch
Hello Games’ own account of the decade is a long run of major updates since launch, and Cosmos is the latest. Released on September 9, 2026, a month after the tenth anniversary, it targets space, which the studio says it had never really updated since release, and it delivers what it calls its most requested feature since launch: owning a space station.
Compared with launch, when space was largely a route between planets, Cosmos fills it with things to do: a map of each star system, wrecked hulks worth salvaging, outposts in deep space, free-floating bases, belts of asteroids, stars that can now be reached, and stations players can own and use as the base of an alliance. These are documented features since launch, not evidence of how well they play; player reactions to the wider game are covered in the sections above and below.
The anniversary itself looks back over the changes since launch. Hello Games’ Our Journey Continues expedition began on September 16, 2026 and runs for about six weeks; its milestones revisit major updates since launch, and it can be started from a fresh save. That gives returning players a guided route through systems added while they were away.
Where Opinions Stand Now
Taken together, current opinion does not split neatly into fans and critics. Reactions differ along a different line: players who treat the game as an open-ended place to wander and build tend to describe its breadth as the reward, while those looking for systems that demand and reward mastery tend to describe the same breadth as shallow. Some players hold both views at once, recommending the game while criticising how loosely its parts fit together.
Time away also shapes the verdict. In the reviewed reports, some players returning after years describe a game transformed from the one they remember, while others coming back after big updates say they still lose interest within a couple of hours, so reactions differ even among players with the same history.
Technical experience is the least settled area. Reactions differ: some players report bugs since the Cosmos update while others report smooth play, and in the reviewed reports there is not enough to say how common either experience is on any one system.
Who This May Be For
In the reviewed reports, No Man’s Sky looks best suited to players who enjoy setting their own goals: wandering between planets, dropping from orbit to explore a surface or simply taking in the view, with no pressure to finish anything. Those who want a calm game to return to between busier ones describe it warmly.
It may also suit players who left years ago and want to see what has changed, especially if they are willing to relearn rather than expect the game they remember; some returning players find it transformed, while others still drift away. It also suits players who like to dip into whichever activity appeals that day. Readers who want a tightly structured campaign, steady challenge or systems that depend on one another may find that the same open-endedness its admirers love leaves them without enough reason to keep going.
What to Learn More About
No Man’s Sky launched in August 2016. Hello Games now lists PC and Mac with Steam Deck and PCVR, PlayStation 4 and 5 with PSVR2, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S including Game Pass, and Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. The player accounts in this article were not sorted by platform, so readers on a particular system should check experiences specific to it.
Hello Games followed Cosmos with patches 7.01 to 7.06 through October 5, 2026, each listed as gameplay and stability fixes. Patch 7.06 fixed a crash on PC with some Nvidia GPUs and reached Steam before other platforms, so the state of a fix can differ by system for a time.
For anyone starting now, the anniversary expedition that began on September 16, 2026 runs for about six weeks and can be started from a fresh save, so a newcomer does not need an existing game to take part.