So now we know NMS version 4.0 update occurs on Oct 7, and it occurs in conjunction with NMS Switch digital and Switch / PS5 physical edition releases. Only thing we don’t know is the size of 4.0 and its contents.
I speculate a huge ‘variation overhaul’ with a focus on variation between galaxies (but only if HG hired much of the art and animation out) with a possible multiverse (allowing universal terrain reset without affecting planetary bases; as prescribed in the multiverse thread) and much more, as much as two years in the making.
However, would it require two years to bring NMS to Switch, among all other ambitions? We don’t know! So our speculations may be more appropriate for a future 5.0, etc. We will have to wait and see this 4.0 update. Otherwise, Sean’s tweets and blog posts feels like déjà vu, the usual statements before a major update.
Consider…
2022 has already been one of our most busy years to date
He always says that. Why? Because he’s being reflective and it’s always true.
The focus of 4.0 is our Switch release, an opportunity to introduce a new group of players into our welcoming community. More will follow
The focus of all other anniversary or ‘big number change’ updates were, multiplayer (Atlas Rises 1.3), Xbox (Next 1.5), VR (Beyond 2.0), numerous ambitions (Origins 3.0), and numerous smaller ‘major updates’ all year every year, and yet somehow they always managed to still drop a ‘variation overhaul’ update, 2× bigger than each year prior. Only exception to this was last year, with no 4.0 ‘variation overhaul.’ — Thus, 2 years later: “What’s 4.0!?” — So when Sean says, “4.0 is Switch” and “more will follow,” certainly he doesn’t mean 4.0 is only an optimization patch for Switch, with maybe some bug fixes for PC and other platforms. That would be sooo out of character for such a small ambitious team like HG. Oh no, he means more will follow about 4.0.
Sean says…
No Man’s Sky Switch is releasing on Oct 7th
If so, it will break a two-year string of Wednesday releases. It will also be the first Friday release since August 9, 2016, the initial release of NMS. Thus, I expect 4.0 to release digitally on Wed Oct 5th, followed by Switch and PS5 physical editions on Fri Oct 7th. This would help prevent people from getting their hands on the physical editions too early and leaking out gameplay footage from the included major update version 4.0.
Otherwise, HG rewrites history and the future of speculations, forever.