No Man's Sky studio breaks silence, announces base building and more in huge Foundation update
UPDATE: Live now, and here's everything it adds.
UPDATE 27/11/16 11.00am: No Man's Sky has now been patched with its big Foundation Update, which adds base building, freighters, farming, options for creative and survival modes and a lot more.
The download for the update clocks in at 2.7GB, around the size of the full game, and its contents have now been spilled in a fresh Hello Games blog post.
Hello Games founder Sean Murray - who shouldered huge amounts of criticism after the game failed to meet expectations - announced the update was live this morning via the following message on Twitter:
You can find patch notes in the above link, or for a neat roundup of everything in the update via real gameplay footage, Hello Games has released this video tour:
UPDATE 25/11/16 5.30pm: Hello Games has broken its long silence following the launch of No Man's Sky to confirm details of the game's first major content update, which will add a base-building element.
The patch will be called the Foundation Update, to reflect both its construction element and the fact that it is "putting in place a foundation for things to come." The studio didn't confirm the full patch notes or when the patch would be released, other that it would be "soon", but the fact it's even prepared to confirm its existence is significant after a long and controversial period of silence. The game attracted fierce criticism for not living up to the expectations set by the pre-release marketing, which Sony publishing boss Shu Yoshida later admitted was "not a great PR strategy".
The Foundation Update announcement does point out that the game has received seven patches since it released, but the community has long demanded more significant changes, citing pre-release interviews with Hello Games head Sean Murray that referred to features, like rich multiplayer, that didn't make it into the game. Player complaints prompted the UK's Advertising Standards Authority to investigate the game for misleading buyers, and Steam banned non-game-screenshots on store pages shortly afterwards. Both Murray and Hello remained largely silent throughout, until today's announcement.
"The discussion around No Man's Sky since release has been intense and dramatic," the post says. "We have been quiet, but we are listening and focusing on improving the game that our team loves and feels so passionately about."
"Positive or negative feedback, you have been heard and that will truly help to make this a better game for everyone. This update will be the first small step in a longer journey. We hope you can join us."