No Man's Sky Omega Update Brings New Free-to-Play Expedition and More

Following a series of vague teases over the past week, No Man's Sky has received its new Omega update which brings overhauled gameplay mechanics, ownable pirate freighters, new cosmetics, and more to the unfathomably vast space exploration game. Though countless free updates to No Man's Sky over the years have more than made good on the big promises originally made for the game while also bringing it to many new platforms, this latest update introduces a new expedition which can be played for free by players who don't own the game.

This offers a perfect opportunity for new players to try out the game if they've never previously had the chance, though it's worth keeping in mind that this free-to-play period, as well as the expedition itself, are on for a limited time only. The Omega update itself brings a pretty significant package of new content to the game, with the new 4.5 version being the first update fans have seen for the game in around half a year. Developer Hello Games had previously teased some of the new features that fans can expect to see in 2024 in a presentation at The Game Awards, where the studio also revealed Light No Fire, its next major project.

Though No Man's Sky's Omega update did prematurely drop on certain platforms yesterday, the official trailer and full list of patch notes were only recently released. Alongside the new limited-time expedition which is available for free between February 15th and February 19th and will run for around 4 weeks in total, players are now able to board and take control of the massive pirate dreadnoughts that were initially added to the game in the previous Echoes update. In addition to this new ownable freighter variant, the new Omega update also brings a ton of new cosmetic items and decorations to collect and outfit themselves with, as well as a new «Starborn» variant of starship which seems to be an on-the-nose reference to Starfield.

The Omega update also overhauls various major aspects of No Man's Sky, with