No Man’s Sky Turns 10 Years as Hello Games Teases COSMOS and Light No Fire

No Man’s Sky has officially reached its 10 year anniversary, marking a decade since Hello Games launched its ambitious procedural space exploration game on August 9, 2016. What began as one of the most controversial launches in modern gaming has evolved into one of the industry’s most notable long term comeback stories, supported by 40 major free updates and a community that remains active a decade later. Hello Games is celebrating the milestone while already teasing another major update called COSMOS and confirming that development of Light No Fire continues in the background.

Hello Games founder Sean Murray reflected on the game’s history by revealing that tens of millions of Travellers have entered the No Man’s Sky universe and collectively spent hundreds of millions of hours exploring it. Despite that enormous amount of activity, players have still discovered less than 1% of the planets generated by the game. Even more remarkably, Hello Games says No Man’s Sky reached its highest player numbers since launch during 2026, demonstrating how strongly the game continues to perform after an entire decade on the market.

The scale of the transformation becomes clearer when looking at everything added since release. No Man’s Sky now includes base building, settlements, exocraft, mechs, living ships, pets, Expeditions, extensive multiplayer systems, virtual reality support, custom ship building, freighters, and repeated overhauls of its procedurally generated universe. Hello Games has also expanded the game across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and virtual reality platforms while continuing to provide its major content expansions without additional charges.

The development pace has continued throughout 2026. The recent THE SWARM update introduced the Hive of Glass, enormous community driven space battles, new factions, research systems, additional rewards, and a universe wide conflict that once again expanded the scope of what No Man’s Sky can deliver as an evolving game.

Hello Games is now preparing its next expansion under the name COSMOS. No gameplay details, release date, or complete feature list have been revealed, but the title was directly teased by Murray as part of the studio’s plans for the future of No Man’s Sky. Considering how previous updates have repeatedly introduced major engine, planetary, exploration, and gameplay changes, COSMOS could represent another significant expansion rather than a smaller anniversary update. For now, however, Hello Games is keeping its contents secret.

Light No Fire also received a brief development update. Murray confirmed that Hello Games remains "busy cooking" on its next game while simultaneously developing new content for No Man’s Sky. Light No Fire was announced at The Game Awards 2023 as an ambitious fantasy survival RPG built around a single procedural planet intended to reach approximately real world scale, with exploration, construction, multiplayer, mountains, oceans, creatures, and persistent shared environments.

"Busy cooking on our next game, Light No Fire."
— Quote by: Sean Murray

The update is notable because Hello Games previously confirmed that only a small group was actively developing the project. As covered in our previous report on Light No Fire development, the studio said the team was working at pace despite remaining relatively small. The latest anniversary message does not provide a release window, but it confirms that development continues while Hello Games maintains its unusually aggressive support schedule for No Man’s Sky.

No Man’s Sky originally faced severe criticism surrounding technical problems and expectations generated before launch, but Hello Games continued rebuilding the game instead of abandoning it. Its Steam reception eventually recovered to Very Positive, while its continuous expansion has transformed the title into something substantially larger than its original 2016 release.

Few games have experienced a lifecycle comparable to No Man’s Sky. Reaching a 10 year anniversary is already significant, but recording some of its strongest player activity during that same period demonstrates something much more unusual. Hello Games has effectively turned No Man’s Sky into a continuously evolving technology platform where advancements in procedural generation, rendering, multiplayer systems, and simulation can be developed and deployed over time.

COSMOS now becomes the next major question. At the same time, the technology developed through No Man’s Sky increasingly acts as a foundation for Light No Fire, meaning continued investment in one project can potentially benefit the other. Hello Games therefore enters its second decade in an unusual position, maintaining one of gaming’s longest running evolving worlds while simultaneously building an even more ambitious shared procedural world for its next release.

After 10 years and 40 major free updates, what would you like Hello Games to add with the upcoming COSMOS update, and are you more excited for the future of No Man’s Sky or Light No Fire?