No Man’s Sky recently brought players another massive update with Cosmos, and it is yet another example of how Hello Games’ ambitious space exploration sandbox has continued to run laps around Bethesda’s Starfield. It has now been three years since Starfield debuted, and in that time, No Man’s Sky has managed to take its version of space to much greater heights. There are plenty of “No Man’s Sky good, Starfield bad” takes out there, so I’m not going to be too harsh on Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG. However, whenever No Man’s Sky gets another big update, it’s hard to ignore that Starfield has struggled to catch up.
Yes, No Man’s Sky has been out way longer than Starfield has, but it doesn’t seem like Bethesda is too concerned with expanding the scope of its game in any significant way. While there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, Starfield was teased as a larger-than-life adventure through space that ultimately set too high of expectations. Now that the game has been around for a few years, space feels more like a prop than a truly meaningful piece of Starfield‘s DNA. However, with No Man’s Sky‘s Cosmos update, Hello Games is taking the opposite approach by making upgrades that breathe serious life into space.
No Man’s Sky’s Cosmos Update Makes Space Feel Alive While Starfield’s Realism Leaves Much to Be Desired
There have been two Starfield DLCs with Shattered Space and Terran Armada, but these expansions did very little to actually add more to the game’s space exploration. Granted, Bethesda did take some steps forward with Starfield‘s Free Lanes update that was added to the game earlier this year. Free Lanes introduced several strong features, like autopilot, which allowed traversal between planets without loading screens, the ability to walk around and interact with activities and NPCs in your ship while moving through space, and more dynamic random combat encounters while flying from Point A to Point B.
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It still hasn’t been enough to compete with the likes of No Man’s Sky, though. I’m aware that Starfield and No Man’s Sky are in two different genres, but both claim to have satisfying open-world space exploration, which the latter is excelling at compared to the former. Both Starfield‘s version of space and its planets feel empty. Since space is barren in real life, that technically makes Starfield‘s version the more realistic one, but that doesn’t exactly make for compelling gameplay.
No Man’s Sky Puts Space Front and Center With Its New Cosmos Features
- Players can now direct Space Stations.
- Space Station customization
- Join or found your own galactic Alliance.
- Visit outposts in deep space.
- Build a free-floating base in space.
- Explore and scavenge massive, dangerous shipwrecks.
Hello Games continues to deliver on its long-running promise to make No Man’s Sky a smorgasbord of space exploration possibilities. Even better, all of No Man’s Sky‘s updates have been free. After the game’s less-than-stellar launch back in 2016, Hello Games hasn’t stopped expanding on No Man’s Sky‘s gameplay. This has helped the game remain relevant for a full decade now, and there are no signs of the dev team slowing down any time soon.
After Starfield‘s Terran Armada DLC, what awaits the space-faring RPG next is mainly a big mystery. Bethesda has hinted at more new content for 2027 by expanding the Starborn narrative, but the finer details are being kept under wraps. Starfield fans at least have Creations to help expand the game. Thankfully, many of the Creations are free, but players have criticized the price points of a lot of the paid mods that are available through the platform.
As No Man’s Sky Continues to Evolve, Bethesda’s Time With Starfield Feels Like It’s Coming to a Close
Starfield was a big leap for Bethesda, and while it’s great for developers to try new things and grow their IP lineup, the studio’s sci-fi RPG simply wasn’t the “Skyrim in space” experience that many were expecting. Now that The Elder Scrolls 6 is deep in production and Bethesda and Obsidian have joined forces with two new Fallout projects in development, the studio probably won’t have a lot of time for Starfield in the future. Todd Howard may have teased extra Starfield content in 2027, but I wouldn’t be surprised if post-launch support died down significantly after these planned updates arrive.
Beyond a fifth mainline Fallout game and The Elder Scrolls 6, Bethesda is also working on remasters for Fallout 3 and New Vegas that are expected to come out before its new projects.
At this rate, a Starfield sequel seems unlikely. Before Starfield, Bethesda had built a wildly impressive reputation that cemented its games deep into pop culture, and only time will tell if Starfield manages to have as much longevity as more popular Bethesda games like Skyrim, Fallout 4, or New Vegas.
No Man’s Sky’s Cosmos Update Marks 10 Years of Progress
It’s hard to believe that No Man’s Sky‘s 10th anniversary has arrived. I vividly remember the controversy that its launch state ignited, and it’s great to see how far the game has come since those rocky early days. No Man’s Sky‘s 2026 updates have covered a lot of ground that have given players great new ways to celebrate such a big milestone. It’s hard for any game to be popular 10 years after its launch, but the hard work and love that Hello Games has put into making No Man’s Sky a space exploration adventure worth getting lost for hours in can be felt with each update.
Whether Starfield gets a No Man’s Sky redemption arc remains to be seen, but not every developer should have to worry about a major comeback. Sometimes the best thing to do is to simply move onto the next project and make improvements there. Setting the Starfield discourse aside, it has been an eventful 10 years for No Man’s Sky. Getting to this point is truly an impressive achievement, and Hello Games is hopefully able to celebrate 20 years of sci-fi sandbox gameplay once the next decade comes around.
- Released
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August 9, 2016
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
