No Man's Sky rolling out cross-save support from today as PS5 Pro enhancements arrive

It barely seems like yesterday I was writing it barely seems like yesterday since we last had a No Man's Sky update, but here I am doing it again as Hello Games' exploratory space sim ushers in cross-save support, PS5 Pro enhancements, and even the return of Mass Effect's Normandy.

All this comes via No Man's Sky's latest update (the sixth this year, if you're counting, after October's The Cursed update), which begins with a feature "years" in the making: cross-save. Starting today, cross-save is available alongside cross-play for all platforms - including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Steam Deck, PSVR VR 1 & 2, and PC VR - meaning players can pick up from where they left off regardless of which machines they're hopping between.

Hello Games says introducing the feature has been "especially difficult" given the range of platforms its catering for and the age of saves some players are still using. "It’s very common for players to rack up thousands of hours of... incredibly detailed saves," it explains. "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! We also have players who played once at launch, eight years ago, suddenly loading up that save on a platform that didn’t even exist back then!"

As such, Hello Games is taking a cautious approach to cross-save and rolling out the feature gradually. Starting today, all players can link their various platform accounts together via the No Man's Sky website, and a "subset of players" will be able to access cross-saves initially. "In the coming weeks," the studio adds, "all players will be invited to do so."

But there's more; to coincide with today's PlayStation Pro launch, Hello Games is releasing an enhanced version of No Man's Sky for the platform, introducing "crisp 4K resolution at 60fps" and 8K at 30fps. That's alongside improved lighting, plus ultra quality reflections and higher quality ambient occlusion across all modes. These enhancements are also available on PSVR2.

And finally for today's No Man's Sky update, Hello Games is joining in with BioWare's annual Mass Effect N7 celebrations by running an "overhauled" version of 2021's limited-time Beachhead expedition. Completing this quest unlocks Mass Effect's SSV Normandy SR1 as a useable frigate in-game, with players having two weeks to acquire it starting today.

As to what's next for No Man's Sky, we've yet to hear more about the Worlds Part 2 release Hello Games teased alongside the massive Worlds Part 1 update back in July, but that one seems to have slipped so it's unclear if we'll see more of it this year. And, of course, we're coming up to 12 months since the reveal of the studio's next game, Light No Fire, so perhaps we'll learn more about that come December's Game Awards.