No Man’s Sky is expanding its reach to Apple’s mobile devices. Hello Games has announced that the sci-fi exploration epic will arrive on iOS for iPhone and iPad on October 28th.
Rather than a scaled-back adaptation, the iOS release is designed to deliver the full No Man’s Sky experience, according to Hello Games founder Sean Murray. “I guess I should say this is not No Man’s Sky Lite,” he wrote in a blog post. The mobile edition includes the game’s extensive post-launch content, including last year’s massive Voyagers expansion. Multiplayer and planetary settlements are the only major features not included at launch. Murray compared the release strategy with the game’s original debut on Switch, explaining that Hello Games will continue supporting iOS based on player feedback and engagement.
The game will run on the iPhone 11, third-generation iPad Air, and newer devices, while requiring only about 5GB of storage. Hello Games has created a new touch-control system for mobile play, with additional support for controllers, screen casting, and mouse-and-keyboard setups on iPad. Murray says the studio has also focused heavily on battery efficiency and heat management, aiming to make extended play sessions comfortable. No Man’s Sky will be “free to try” when it launches, although Hello Games has not yet announced the price of the complete version.
Nearly a decade after its original release, No Man’s Sky has evolved far beyond its first version. The iOS launch will add another platform to an already broad lineup that includes Mac, PC, virtually every modern console, and virtual reality. Hello Games has also sustained the game with a steady run of free expansions, most recently the Cosmos update in September, which added new ways to explore its enormous universe.
