Multiplayer in No Man’s Sky has been a little stilted but that might be about to change. According to the leaked box art for the Xbox One version of No Man’s Sky, the game might be getting some form of multiplayer. Found by PeacefulGamer on Twitter, the new box art (right) shows four player models strolling on a planet. This is a stark contrast to the old PS4 box art (left), which just shows a single being wandering.
Actual multiplayer would be a huge boon for the game, as it would maybe help realize some of the untrue words from the developers in the past. Finding someone else became possible later but it was not as fleshed out as it could have been. Four modeled characters in actual co-op would be a big step up and could even pave the way for player customization. The box art could also be hinting at ringed planets, as there is one such planet in the background.
This leak coincides with some more No Man’s Sky information coming this week. Major Nelson, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, stated that the next episode of Xbox Inside will feature “new details on the Xbox One version of No Man’s Sky.” This episode airs tomorrow at 3:30 PST on multiple video websites and could show off this new box art in a more official capacity.
This also coincides with the next huge updated planned for No Man’s Sky simply called Next. Back in March, developer Hello Games detailed the Next update, which they scheduled for a summer release. The update is supposed to be the game’s biggest one yet but not much else was promised outside of it being free and a vague release date.
No Man’s Sky has received huge updates in the past so it’s quite remarkable that this will be the biggest one. The game was fairly devoid of features when it shipped so it’s understandable that it would have giant patches to satisfy frustrated fans. Hello Games has added features like base building, a procedural mission system, planetary vehicles, more modes, and much more over the span its life. It would make sense that multiplayer would be part of the biggest update.
