No Man’s Sky’s next big update, Adrift, lets people explore an abandoned universe with all other lifeforms stripped out.

Adrift lets players experience Hello Games’ long-running space exploration game in an alternative universe in which they can be truly alone for the first time. Adrift removes all NPCs, which means no shops, no trading, no shortcuts, and no help. This makes for a more dangerous survival experience, Hello Games said, with sandworms now roaming free and fiend eggs spreading across planets. Buildings are broken and rusted, and the worlds are littered with graves of lost travelers.

“In space a new ghostly frigate beckons for players who wish to unravel the mystery at the heart of this new universe,” Hello Games teased. To help players, a new bulky dropship called the Iron Vulture is made available.

“Adrift was supposed to be our next expedition, which it is, but it’s ballooned out into an update filled with improvements, new unique gameplay content and rewards,” Hello Games added.

No Man’s Sky launched in 2016 initially for PC and PlayStation 4, before coming out on Xbox One in 2018, then on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S in 2020. A Nintendo Switch version followed in 2022. Over the years, Hello Games has issued a long list of major updates, most recently the 27th, Orbital. Hello Games said it has “a lot planned and still to announce.”

Indeed, it’s a busy time for Hello Games, which alongside updates for No Man’s Sky is working on its next game, Light No Fire. It’s about adventure, building, survival and exploration together, set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].