No Man’s Sky making freighters great again in new Endurance update

With less than a month to go until No Man’s Sky’s sixth birthday, developer Hello Games has finally, as of today, hit the big two-oh in terms of post-launch updates for its ever-expanding exploratory space sim, and the studio’s latest addition – titled Endurance – takes aim at space bases, aiming to make freighters great again.

Freighters were, of course, one of No Man’s Sky’s very first post-launch additions, arriving all the way back in November 2016 as part of its game-changing Foundation Update.

While the Foundation Update’s other major addition, base building, has undergone several revisions in the year’s since its debut, freighters – those giant, habitable, expandable space vessels Travellers are now given early on in their adventures – have not, and their limited building blocks have remained an ongoing frustration for players like me who’ve long dreamed of constructing something a bit more lavish for their home among the stars.

That day has finally come; following a number of revisions for other core systems this year, including space flight and combat, Hello Games has now turned its attention to overhauling freighters, and the results bring new tools enabling players get a bit fancier with their creations, building everything from external walkways to windows overlooking the cosmos – meaning I might finally be able to construct the scenic deep-space cocktail lounge of my dreams.

Other changes to freighters include a reworked bridge – providing instant access to warping and teleportation – plus specially themed areas, new features for growing food and manufacturing, plus a selection of new technologies giving players the opportunity to scan and analyse planets from space among other things. Additionally, freighters now have expanded crews, adding a bit more life to rooms and corridors.

Alongside the freighter overhaul, Hello Games has also continued its aesthetic refresh of outer space in the Endurance update. Most notably, asteroids have been reworked to offer more variety (they’ll also now appear in larger, denser formations, with thousands on-screen at once), and players can also admire new Interstellar-style black holes, nebulae, space storms, and other assorted space atmospherics.

When players aren’t tinkering around with their new toys in No Man’s Sky’s sandbox, they’ll also have the opportunity to embark on a new limited-time expedition, known as Polestar – focused on a capital ship voyage – as well as new combat-focused Nexus missions. Additionally, there’s a new Twitch Drops campaign incoming, bringing a fresh selection of rewards.

No Man’s Sky’s Endurance update is available now on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC (full patch notes can be found here), and will be included as part of the upcoming Switch version, which is due to release on 7th October.