When is No Man's Sky coming to Nintendo Switch?

No Man's Sky is one of the most touching comeback stories in all of video game history. After its shaky launch and powerful series of updates, the game is being ported to a new console.

The game was originally released in 2016, but the big update, NEXT, dropped two years later. The game was revolutionized and revitalized into something that is still enjoyed today.

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When does No Man's Sky come to Switch?

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No Man's Sky's Nintendo Switch port was announced as part of the February 9 Nintendo Direct reveal. This port does not have an exact release date, but it is promised for Summer 2022. The game initially released on the PlayStation 4 and PC in August of 2016, then dropped on the Xbox One in 2018.

The system was then ported to the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, and Series X in 2020. The Switch port will stand as the first way to play No Man's Sky on a portable console. The press release ensures that the game's current form, after five years of updates, will come to Switch unscathed.

Some fans are concerned that the massive game will face a significant uphill battle on the underpowered console, but Hello Games and Nintendo assure players otherwise.

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What will be in the Switch Edition?

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No Man's Sky launched with some truly massive promises, most of which it didn't live up to. Now, five years later, there have been no fewer than eighteen named expansions to the game that have rendered it unrecognizable.

Lead developer and longtime spokesperson Sean Murray has helpfully announced that the game will launch on Switch with all of its new content. By 2020, the game stood at 11.85 GB on PlayStation 4, which would take up about a third of the Switch's default memory.

The game is based almost entirely around procedural generation. Its universe is entirely random and often different for each player. The game does now feature online play, including cross-play with every console. Though it is unknown whether the Switch port will have cross-play, that would be a great way to play with friends.

Many games have made a substantial graphical downgrade when being ported to Switch. It's likely that a game based on procedural generation could struggle with some pretty serious slowdowns, but some Switch ports are very well optimized.

No Man's Sky is coming to Switch sometime in mid-2022, and the game could be one of the console's biggest single projects.