No Man’s Sky Origins “is the beginning of something new,” and it launches next week

(Image credit: Hello Games)

The next No Man's Sky update will launch next week. The next major addition to the sprawling space game, titled Origins, was announced in a blog post earlier today.

When it launched its first major expansion, Foundation, after launch, developer Hello Games described it as “the start of something.” That vibe is one that the team is also bringing to its latest update, stating that “we called it Origins because it is the beginning of something new, as No Man’s Sky continues to grow and evolve”.

That’s not exactly a solid descriptor of the content we can expect from the new update, but it is at least a decent attempt at explaining why you’d choose to name the twelfth major update to a four-year-old game as if it was a prequel.

Hello says that “we know there is a huge appetite in the community for No Man’s Sky content,” and while this year has been a difficult and often quiet year for the studio, “we are always listening and focusing on improving the game.” There’s no real word on what Origins will bring to the game, but it’s described as “another small step in a longer journey,” and patch notes are apparently on their way ahead of launch.

After a tricky launch, No Man’s Sky has been transformed by its updates. After Foundation came Next, another important milestone in the game’s history. Last year’s biggest addition was Beyond, followed by a suite of smaller expansions that have apparently led to 2020 being the game’s “biggest year to date.”

Space is pretty big - make sure you don't get lost with our No Man's Sky guide.

Ali Jones
News Editor

I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.