No Man’s Sky’s Omega update lets you play for “free,” maybe

Hello Games has announced the next free content update for No Man’s Sky, and like all their hefty content updates, the Omega update is a hefty one.

It’s also the patch I’m having trouble wrapping my head around. One of the features they tout is that Omega enables people to play for free, and in this business, that can mean a lot of things. What is clear is that this isn’t No Man’s Sky going completely free-to-play. So, we can scratch that off.

At the top of the patch notes page, Hello Games notes the update “invites everybody to embark upon a new shared interstellar expedition entirely for free, whether they already own No Man’s Sky or not.” That sounds like there’s a separate mode that is available to play for free as maybe a trial or demo.

However, further down, it says, “From 14:00 GMT, Thursday 15th Feb to 18:00 GMT, Monday 19th Feb, the entire Omega expedition will be open to everyone, entirely for free, even if you don’t own No Man’s Sky!” What? So, it is still just that one slice of game, but that slice is free for a weekend? Do I have that right? If so, why is such an ephemeral moment being so heavily advertised?

Like, look at this Tweet and tell me what you think it means.

The stuff I can understand

Okay, so, beyond that, there are some cool features being added. One of the big ones is that you can now launch into community expeditions from an existing save game and bring some of your loot back with you. You can also attack pirate dreadnaughts, board them, and claim them as your own, which sounds pretty rad.

There is also a new ship and some equipment, as well as new planetary missions. If you want all the minutia, you can find it here in the patch notes.

I’ve tried a few times to get into No Man’s Sky, and I just don’t feel it. I appreciate what has been added over time, but to me, it feels very artificial. However, if you haven’t tried it, you maybe should. You can do that for free this weekend, but maybe only a small part of it. I don’t know. It could be clearer.

No Man’s Sky is available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.