No Man’s Sky Adrift update leaves you completely alone in its universe, except for sandworms and ghost ships

With an effectively infinite universe to fill in No Man’s Sky, developers Hello Games have certainly risen to the challenge of trying to fill it with as much stuff as they possibly can over the last near-decade, still managing to add major new features and modes eight years on from the sci-fi exploration game’s release. Next update Adrift is taking things right the way back, though, by emptying the expansive cosmos of almost everything except you, your ship and planets to visit.

The incoming expedition was apparently inspired by No Man’s Sky as it was pre-release, where the player was alone to explore a vast galaxy. Adrift will recreate that sensation of being a lone galactic traveller, taking all other lifeforms – aside from sandworms and fiend eggs – out of the game. That also presents a new survival test, as there won’t be any NPCs to ask for aid – including no shops. Shortcuts are also out, as is trading and other help.

“There’s so much we love about the game now, but there was something unique at release in how alone you felt in the universe,” Hello Games wrote in their announcement blog.

Adding to the eerie feeling of being alone in the abyss is the presence of broken and abandoned buildings, graves of other travellers, and the addition of new ghostly frigates to recruit. You’ll have a new ship to zoom around by yourself in, too: the chunky Iron Vulture hauler. That’ll mean new customisation options as introduced in last update Orbital, to boot.

Surviving the solo challenge will net you new rewards including a scuttler companion, stealth paint for your ship and both the Iron Vulture and ghost frigate, which can be used across all your saved games via the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion. The Adrift expedition will run for around seven weeks, during which you can give it a go via the Expedition Terminus on the Space Anomaly (or by starting a new save, which you can convert to a normal save once it ends).