After its initial reveal in 2013, anticipation for No Man’s Sky was astronomical–until it fell off of a procedurally generated cliff as eager virtual space explorers found the initial 2016 release a little too anemic, and lacking many features promised by Hello Games co-founder Sean Murray. The game’s devs, however, weren’t satisfied letting NMS drift off into the vacuum of forgotten games.
Read More: No Man’s Sky Goes Full Star Trek Mode In Latest Massive Update
The Voyagers update, the latest in the studio’s persistent efforts to improve and deepen the experience of exploring its procedural universe, has been a hit with the game’s community. Allowing players to construct their own ships with fully traversable interiors and more, the update has seen a wild influx of players come to the game, the most since its launch on Steam in 2018.
Taking to X, Sean Murray shared that on September 1, which coincided with the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., NMS saw just under 100,000 concurrent players.
Highest number of players since launch 🤯 pic.twitter.com/d51JpviRb2
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) September 1, 2025
The game has also surged to second place in the top-10 most played Steam Deck games for the past week, surpassed only by Hollow Knight (fans of that game must be excited about something, I imagine). With so many players jumping in to play with the game’s new shipbuilding mechanics, the internet is full of cool new designs, including original creations, builds modeled after classic science fiction ships, and of course more than a few silly ones, such as this recreation of a Nokia 3310.
Legends say he flew it into a black hole and the black hole blinked@NoMansSky #NoMansSky@hellogames@Griff_ pic.twitter.com/Dq7T8LCUcS
— Ray Reynolds (@RayReynoldsNMS) September 2, 2025
But while the ability to build new ships with fully furnished interiors is perhaps Voyagers’ most attention-grabbing addition to the game, the chance to finally float out in space is also drawing in players, inspiring some to take daredevilish skydiving trips from orbit down to the surface. And yes, folks are doing it in VR as well.
It may be hard for No Man’s Sky to fully match the level of hype early trailers inspired in the 2010s, but seeing what players are up to now with the Voyagers update sure as hell makes it feel like it’s finally become the epically endless space sim many of us were so excited to play.
