No Man’s Sky “Fractal” update announced, adds PS VR2 support and more

Hello Games has announced and released No Man’s Sky update 4.1 “Fractal”, which adds PlayStation VR2 support, quality of life improvements, new content, and more.ccessibility improvements, gyroscopic control support, and more.

Here’s a rundown on the new update, plus a new trailer:

No Man’s Sky Update 4.1 “Fractal”

Completely immerse yourself in an infinite universe with No Man’s Sky update 4.1, FRACTAL! Introducing a catalogue of your most incredible discoveries, a huge number of quality of life and accessibility improvements, gyroscopic control support, full support for PlayStation®VR2, and much more!

UTOPIA EXPEDITION

The once-affluent system of Bakkin has fallen into decay: trade routes halted, the Space Station abandoned and rotting, intelligent lifeforms departed. Anomalous solar activity prevents the crafting of items beyond the shelter of a planetary base.

Thankfully, for the good of all, the generous Utopia Foundation is coordinating a grand reconstruction project. Join the communal habitation team, settler, and help make Bakkin beautiful and productive once more!

WONDEROUS DISCOVERIES

Browse through your most impressive and bizarre discoveries in the new Wonders section of the Catalogue. Explore an ever-evolving collection of mementos from your journey: from the largest herbivorous creature, to the most ancient tree, to the planet most approaching paradise.

IMPROVED HDR LIGHTING

Colour grading for high dynamic range (HDR) displays has been completely reworked, bringing the hues and tones of the universe closer to the look of a standard dynamic range display, while still enhanced by the brilliant lights and intense shadows of HDR.

UTOPIA SPEEDER STARSHIP

Complete the full programme of Utopia Foundation assignments to receive the exclusive Utopia Speeder starship. This versatile craft is plated with radiation-resistant armour, and engineered with an aerodynamic profile for agility during atmospheric flight.

PLAYSTATION VR2

Launching together with the new PSVR2 hardware, No Man’s Sky is a more immersive Virtual Reality experience than ever. Travellers can explore the universe in up to 4K resolution, pilot ships and wield Multi-Tools with the new ergonomic Sense controllers, and benefit from a vast number of gameplay and quality of life improvements.

NEXUS MISSIONS ON SWITCH

For the first time on Nintendo Switch, sign up at the Space Anomaly to undertake challenging missions for Priest Entity Nada and Specialist Polo.

The Nexus interface offers an ever-updating selection of missions at specific locations, ranging from discovery, to combat, to base building, and much more.

Every day, with a bonus at weekends, the Nexus offers a new mission rewarding Quicksilver. Polo’s Quicksilver Synthesis Companion will be pleased to exchange this special currency for a wide range of exotic collectables.

CLEARER GAME OPTIONS

Game Options are now available from the opening screens of the game, allowing you to tweak settings such as volume and resolution before loading into gameplay.

Options have been reorganised for ease of use, and clarifying descriptions have been added to explain the function of each option.

FEARSOME VISOR

Utopia settlers will receive this exclusive appearance customisation: the Fearsome Visor. Strike dread into the hearts of your foes with this oxide-strengthened helmet.

PSVR2 VISUAL QUALITY

The universe looks crisper and more beautiful in PSVR2, with higher quality textures, improved particle rendering, terrain tessellation effects, increased planetary details, increased draw distances, and much more.

These improvements, combined with support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 technology on PlayStation technology, create the best-looking PSVR experience yet.

TWITCH REWARDS

Tune in to Twitch streams of No Man’s Sky to earn in-game rewards. Sign up and link your platform accounts on the Twitch Drops page, then watch other Travellers explore the Fractal update to earn special companions, starships, appearance modifications, exotic base parts, and more!

Visit the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion aboard the Space Anomaly to redeem Twitch rewards.

ALIEN STRUCTURE AMBIENCE

A deeper sense of mystery surrounds ancient portals, plaques, and monoliths, with the addition of ambient mist and dramatic new visual effects upon activation.

VIRTUAL REALITY OVERHAUL

The experience of playing in VR has been improved across the board.

When playing with a controller tracked in each hand, the Personal Forcefield will move attached to your non-dominant hand, allowing you to reflexively and intuitively deflect enemy fire.

Mission locations and power hotspots are more intuitive to pinpoint, with revamped Target Sweep and Hotspot Surveying controls for the Analysis Visor.

DYNAMIC RESOLUTION SCALING

Dynamic scaling on PS5 invisibly adapts your display resolution during play, ensuring a smooth framerate at all times, and a significant improvement to visual quality in situations such as space flight.

Transitioning between deep-space exploration and low-altitude flight is now completely seamless and hitch-free.

VR BASE BUILDING

Constructing a base in Virtual Reality is more intuitive than ever. Placement options now appear wherever you look, and you can select a position by pointing to it.

Base parts can now be recoloured in VR, to enhance your base’s aesthetic with the full range of colours and materials.

CATALOGUED TREASURES

Your most lucrative treasures, from leather-bound anthologies to eldritch bio-anomalies, are now recorded in the Wonders section of the Catalogue.

Planetary glitches, such as electric cubes and bubble clusters, are also counted here as you retrieve them from exotic biomes.

VR GALAXY MAP

Navigating and selecting warp destinations in the VR Galaxy Map has been improved, and it is now possible to travel through the centre of the galaxy in VR.

NEW ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES

A significant number of new game options allow you to customise your experience for accessibility and ease of use. New options include a range of tools to adjust visual effects, cameras, and controls for the most comfortable experience possible.

Specific settings include a setting for the Analysis Visor to automatically scan fauna, flora and minerals when centred on screen, without requiring a second simultaneous button push.

In addition to the existing HUD Scale option, some menu text can now also be enlarged to increase readability, especially from a distance.

HOLOGRAPHIC FRIEND

Contributors to the Utopia communal habitation project will receive this exclusive holographic base part, providing eternal friendship to even the loneliest of bases!

CUSTOMISE YOUR GAMEPLAY

The player character may now be shown on the right side of the screen, operating the Multi-Tool with their left hand.

The auto-rotation behaviour of the third-person camera can be disabled, allowing complete manual control of the camera rotation.

A network privilege can be set for which players are permitted to access the contents of your refiner.

The game language may now be set from within No Man’s Sky, independently of your system language.

QUALITY OF LIFE

A polish pass has improved quality of life across a wide range of gameplay features.

Quick charge allows base parts such as refiners to be fully refuelled with a single button press.

The system for synchronising the contents of your refiner in multiplayer has been completely reworked for reliability and stability.

An emergency warp button will now allow you to reset your position in your freighter, to rescue any ambitious builders who have become caught within the freighter base.

NEW VR OPTIONS

When exploring on foot or piloting your ship in VR, the distance of the User Interface (UI) and Heads-Up Display (HUD) can now be fine-tuned to your exact preference, to maximise physical comfort.

While playing PS4 VR using a DualShock 4, you may now use motion controls to operate the cursor in menus.

All VR players can now adjust the intensity of the vignette effect at the edge of your vision, to suit your individual comfort level.

ROBO-WARDEN COMPANION

The Utopia Foundation provides its most hardworking settlers with an exclusive hovering valet, the Robo-Warden. This electronic companion is programmed to be meticulous and dependable as it assists you on your journey.

PSVR2 HEADSET FEEDBACK

Subtle headset vibrations in PSVR2 elevate sensory feedback to a new level of immersion.

The visor will echo the quaking of the earth as titan worms thunder from the soil. Experience your cockpit rumble around you as you breach planetary atmosphere. Feel the blast of nearby lightning strikes, volcanic eruptions, and other terrestrial phenomena.

The strength of these vibrations can be tuned to your preferences in the Options menu.

A TRACE OF METAL ON SWITCH

For the first time on Nintendo Switch, delve into the secrets of the Sentinels in the story-driven mission “A Trace of Metal”.

Collaborate with Iteration: Tethys, befriend a drone and steal powerful Sentinel technology to upgrade your Minotaur Exocraft.

MOTION CONTROLS

On PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, stick input can now be enhanced with gyroscopic motion sensor control.

Achieve effortless precision when aiming at enemies with the Multi-Tool, and feel fully immersed as you tilt your hands to scan fauna with the Analysis Visor.

Motion control can be enabled and disabled for individual contexts, and the sensitivity and smoothing can be fine-tuned in the Options menu.

TACTILE PSVR2 CONTROLS

Touch and manipulate the universe around you with the individually tracked PS VR2 Sense controllers.

Feel individual bolts click beneath your finger as each is released from your Boltcaster barrel. When your Multi-Tool begins to overheat, reactive feedback begins to resist your pull on the trigger.

Dramatic moments such as launching your starship vibrate your hands and headset together, placing you directly in the centre of the action.

SMOKE AND WRECKAGE EFFECTS

Ambient smoke and fog now surrounds colossal archives, and swirls through abandoned planetary structures.

The smoking and sparking of damaged machinery and crashed freighters has been updated with atmospheric new visual effects.

MILESTONE TITLES

Celebrate your Journey Milestone progress with dozens of new titles available at the Appearance Modifier.

EXPANDED STARSHIP FLEETS

Grow and diversify your ship collection with three additional slots, raising the maximum fleet size to twelve.