The developers behind space exploration and building game No Man’s Sky say that due to platform-related restrictions there is no plan to unite the communities playing multiplayer on PC, Xbox or PlayStation.
That means you can explore the universe together only with friends who bought the game for the same platform as you. That separation is far from unusual — cross-play is expensive to support and not always beneficial to players. It only works, for example, with a few games like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Rec Room — but those games do allow players on most systems to play together with players on others as part of a single shared community. The same plan is in place for this year’s new Call of Duty game. Right now, though, most gamers in most games generally can only play with friends who bought the game for the same platform.
“Due to platform restrictions, there are currently no plans to bring cross play to No Man’s Sky,” Hello Games explained in an email in response to questions.
No Man’s Sky Beyond
We are very excited for the launch this week of No Man’s Sky Beyond — an enormous update to the game across all three of its supported platforms.
The update includes the addition of VR support for Sony’s PlayStation 4 PSVR headset and the PC version with support for Rift, Vive, Index, and Windows MR. You can play together in sessions with up to 32 players exploring uncharted planets and building up complex bases together across both VR and non-VR systems. Wearing a VR headset, then, and playing No Man’s Sky after the Beyond Update will likely bring some players the nearest 2019 offers to living out sci-fi fantasies of endless exploration of strange new worlds.
That promise — somewhat more open-ended and creatively-driven than the typical multiplayer game — is why I asked Hello Games about whether cross-play was on its roadmap for No Man’s Sky after the Beyond update. I also asked whether the game would come to other storefronts with VR support like the Epic Store or Facebook’s Oculus Store.
“We are keen to work with anyone who can help get No Man’s Sky into as many hands as possible, and would never rule anything out, but, as a small team, we can only support so many platforms,” the developers explained in the email.
