No Man's Sky ▶ Trailer
No Man's Sky screenshot 1No Man's Sky screenshot 2
ActionAdventureOpen WorldSpaceOpen World Survival CraftExplorationSci-fi

10,804 playing#99 on Steam by players#99 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 16,703

Peak in the last 7 days: 21,646

No Man's Sky Steam store

Game description

No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe.

Basic info

DeveloperHello Games
PublisherHello Games
PlatformsWindows · macOS
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateAug 12, 2016
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10/11 (64-bit versions)
ProcessorIntel Core i3
Memory8 GB
GraphicsNvidia GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 470 4GB, Intel UHD graphics 630
Storage15 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 421 reviews from the past 1 year

87.1/ 100
Top 30%

Steam rating: Very Positive (85%)

Metacritic: 61 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 12, 2026)

Free updates year after year won No Man's Sky praise for developer support in 82 reviews. It holds 87.1 from 424,393 Steam reviews.

👍 Strengths

Tech & Support ranks 1st of 1399 and comes up in 51% of analyzed reviews, and some describe a full redemption arc. 108 reviews say they love it, and the most upvoted says it quickly became a favorite. Gameplay ranks 109th of 1396, and 53 praise the freedom to choose activities, some listing gunfights, digging, base building, farming and fishing. Pricing & Fairness ranks 37th of 1399 and Content Volume 188th of 1351. Players also describe a cozy, slow paced sandbox and a low stress way to unwind.

👎 Where it falls short

26 reviews say it needs a better tutorial. 18 find small controls frustrating, such as a jetpack that interferes with combat, tedious ladders and awkward storage. 17 report bugs and clipping that go unfixed. Others feel each system lacks depth and an endgame goal, and some say multiplayer needs more depth.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“became one of my favorite games very quickly” · 108 reviews
“free updates year after year, full redemption arc” · 82 reviews
“can do gun fights, terrain digging, spaceship customization, base building, farming, fishing, and dozens more activities” · 53 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 71% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Freedom +4.16 · Room to explore, build, and play your own way
Positive “can do gun fights, terrain digging, spaceship customization, base building, farming, fishing, and dozens more activities” · 53 reviews
Negative “overwhelming sandbox freedom can be too much” · 2 reviews

Progression 18% · Difficulty 6% · Onboarding 16% · Strategy 21% · Controls & feel 11%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 53% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.26 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “genuinely cozy, slow-paced space sandbox, low-stress way to unwind” · 34 reviews
Negative “planets don't orbit, static celestial bodies destroy immersion and universe fantasy” · 3 reviews

Story 18% · Characters 3%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 54% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +4.11 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “literally a lifetime worth of content, always free updates” · 28 reviews
Negative “limited activities despite 74 hours of repetitive space flying” · 2 reviews

Variety 33% · Replayability 13%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.76 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “It looks ok, exploration is fun for a little while” · 37 reviews

Audio 7%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 20% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +1.86 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Positive “playing with friend exploring planets and building bases together was really cool” · 9 reviews
Negative “multiplayer aspect lacks depth and needs improvement” · 10 reviews

Community 5% · Servers & Connection 2%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 16% of reviews · Top 5% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing +0.60 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Positive “free updates for years, no season pass or premium shop” · 4 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 3% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 51% of reviews · Top 1% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support +1.74 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Positive “free updates year after year, full redemption arc” · 82 reviews

Stability 10% · Performance 6%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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