No Man’s Sky next major update has finally arrived and it’s introducing co-op into this massive, open-world game. A feature that many players have been requesting since the game was revealed, developer Hello Games are finally implementing it. While No Man’s Sky can certainly be a beautiful and calming experience by yourself, bringing friends can certainly craft some unique moments.
Here is a quick breakdown of how to play online co-op in No Man’s Sky:
When you first load up your game, No Man’s Sky will ask you whether you want to start your own lobby or join someone else. This is your first opportunity to play with your friends or just random community members. If you decide to join others you cannot start an old file and will need to open up a new world. Once you select a file No Man’s Sky will match you up with other players and let you explore the universe together.
However, you are not required to start a new game if you want to play with your friends. Once you load up your save file and enter the world, bring up your main menu. From here go over to the “Network & Voice” tab and then select “Invite Friends.” Your list of buddies will be brought up and you can ask them to join your game. Additionally, you can simply just invite them without going into this menu system. Your lobby is always open, so feel free to call in back up if you need some help against pirates or dangerous wildlife.
Finally, if you want to play by yourself then select “Network Play” and switch it to off. This will set you as offline and allow you to explore the universe by yourself.