No Man's Sky's Beyond update is kind of turning the game into an MMO

At launch, No Man's Sky was a very lonely game. This functionally-infinite universe was so big that no one ever saw another player. Everyone was just an insignificant speck trying to barter with stubborn aliens.

As Hello Games fixed No Man's Sky, it got less lonely. Last summer's "Next" update implemented synchronous cooperative play. It went a long ways toward making No Man's Sky a better game. (It helps that there were a million other changes too.)

No Man's Sky's next major update goes one step further. Hello Games says that the "Beyond" update "includes a radical new social and multiplayer experience which empowers players everywhere in the universe to meet and play together." This is dubbed No Man's Sky Online.

It sounds like an MMO, but the developer is stopping short of that designation. Hello Games explains "We don't consider No Man's Sky to be an MMO -- it won't require a subscription, won't contain microtransactions, and will be free for all existing players." It really does seem like an MMO though. It's turning the game into something that's massively multiplayer and online. Hello Games is likely ducking the term because it wants to make its monetization intentions crystal clear.

That's just one part of No Man's Sky's plans for Beyond. There are three pillars supporting this update. Hello Games will talk about the other two in the near future, a little closer to Beyond's release which is currently set for sometime this summer.

No Man's Sky Beyond [No Man's Sky]