Monthly Archives: May 2022
Dead Space Creator Says It’s a ‘Weird Feeling’ Not to Be Part of the Remake
Dead Space creator Glen Schofield recently shared his feelings on Dead Space Remake, including that he feels 'a bit weird' not being involved in the upcoming project.
Speaking with Game Informer, Schofield said that he took the announcement of Dead Space Remake "as a compliment" and is glad that the franchise was given "a second life" but was "still kind of bummed" to not be involved in the upcoming title.
"I took [the annoucnement] as a compliment. I still do take it as a compliment. I'm still kind of bummed about it too. There's this weird, weird thing, like you're not attached to your own game," Schofield told Game Informer. "It's a weird feeling. [...] They want to make a game better than the one you made."
Schofield served as the creator and executive producer of Dead Space (2008) while he was employed at Visceral Games and provided creative input on Dead Space 2 before leaving the studio to co-found Sledgehammer Games in 2009. However, Schofield was not involved with 2013's Dead Space 3.
The remake of his original game was announced last year, and Schofield made clear that he hopes the new Dead Space succeeds: "I do wish them well because I want to see the franchise live: that's where I want to be. I want to play it. I want them to do well. I'm glad the franchise is now given a second life."
Since his departure from EA, Schofield has repeatedly shared his thoughts about Dead Space. In 2019, during an interview with Ars Technica, Schofield opened up about the development of the original Dead Space, telling the outlet he enjoyed making the game, that it was a "real highlight in [his] career," and notes toward the end that hopefully, he would make "one of those games again."
While Schofield is not working on Dead Space, Striking Distance Studio's upcoming sci-fi survival horror game, The Callisto Protocol (which is part of the PUBG universe) bears major similarities to his previous creation. In the Game Informer article, Schofield addresses those similarities head-on: "I'm not going to shy away from a good idea because it was in one of my games. All game makers look at ideas from other games. Picasso said, 'good artists borrow, great artists steal'. Well, why not steal from myself?"
The Callisto Protocol is currently in development and aiming for a 2022 release. When Schofield announced it in late 2020, he told us that he is trying to make "the scariest game on next-gen platforms." The Dead Space Remake is slated to release on January 27, 2023.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Bloober Team Turned Down the Opportunity to Make a Saw Game In Order to Make Blair Witch
Horror game developer Bloober Team was offered the chance to make a Saw video game, but opted to create its take on Blair Witch instead.
Speaking to IGN at Polish games conference Digital Dragons, Bloober CEO Piotr Babieno talked about working with licensors and explained how the Blair Witch project came to be – and what didn't happen as a result.
"I was working with our good partner, United Talent Agency," Babieno explained. "We were meeting many people in the industry from Hollywood. UTA is very recognizable and they have good relations with all major movie studios. We talked with [multiple studios], and some of them came to us and [said] 'Okay, guys, you are focusing on horror and we would like to work with you.' [But] the licensors were very straight: 'We would like to do this story. We would like to have the game in 2021 [to coincide with our movie launch]," and so on. We decided, 'Okay, [this is] not what we would like to do.'"
Bloober is widely rumored to be working on a Silent Hill game for Konami, with some reports centring on a remake of Silent Hill 2. Babieno previously told IGN that the studio insists on working on games it can make its own (including "the project we can't talk about", as Babieno put it), and one movie studio met that criteria, and offered some big opportunities:
"Lionsgate came to us and said, 'Guys, we love [Bloober's breakout game] Layers of Fear. We saw what you are doing with Observer, so we would like to work with you. We know that you would like to do your own games, so please, this is our list of our horror IPs; choose one.' We could [have chosen] Saw, which is more popular than Blair Witch, but we decided to take Blair Witch because the universe has many opportunities to build something new. That was the reason why we chose this project."
Babieno says being offered licenses like this wasn't a one-off, and that Bloober has received multiple offers to work on licensed horror games since 2019's Blair Witch – but has had to turn them down due to its other projects.
"Right now, to be honest, we consistently have requests from movie studios, or from other licensors, to work with them, because Bloober Team in some way is recognizable. Unfortunately, for almost one year, we have [had to say] 'pass' to almost everything, because we don't have capacity to do any more titles at one time."
Bloober is currently working on two major projects. One is a game made with Konami – which many believe to be a Silent Hill project – and the other is a new IP with publisher Private Division. Babieno says a third game is also in pre-production. The company has previously teased some kind of return to its Layers of Fear series.
Babieno says that Bloober is resisting growing too much simply to work on more licensed games: "We could do a third project. We could [build a] bigger team, but we don't want to, because we would like to focus on quality and the feeling that [our developers are] still, in some way, independent [and] still feel that they are working on their own title."
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Bloober Team Turned Down the Opportunity to Make a Saw Game In Order to Make Blair Witch
Horror game developer Bloober Team was offered the chance to make a Saw video game, but opted to create its take on Blair Witch instead.
Speaking to IGN at Polish games conference Digital Dragons, Bloober CEO Piotr Babieno talked about working with licensors and explained how the Blair Witch project came to be – and what didn't happen as a result.
"I was working with our good partner, United Talent Agency," Babieno explained. "We were meeting many people in the industry from Hollywood. UTA is very recognizable and they have good relations with all major movie studios. We talked with [multiple studios], and some of them came to us and [said] 'Okay, guys, you are focusing on horror and we would like to work with you.' [But] the licensors were very straight: 'We would like to do this story. We would like to have the game in 2021 [to coincide with our movie launch]," and so on. We decided, 'Okay, [this is] not what we would like to do.'"
Bloober is widely rumored to be working on a Silent Hill game for Konami, with some reports centring on a remake of Silent Hill 2. Babieno previously told IGN that the studio insists on working on games it can make its own (including "the project we can't talk about", as Babieno put it), and one movie studio met that criteria, and offered some big opportunities:
"Lionsgate came to us and said, 'Guys, we love [Bloober's breakout game] Layers of Fear. We saw what you are doing with Observer, so we would like to work with you. We know that you would like to do your own games, so please, this is our list of our horror IPs; choose one.' We could [have chosen] Saw, which is more popular than Blair Witch, but we decided to take Blair Witch because the universe has many opportunities to build something new. That was the reason why we chose this project."
Babieno says being offered licenses like this wasn't a one-off, and that Bloober has received multiple offers to work on licensed horror games since 2019's Blair Witch – but has had to turn them down due to its other projects.
"Right now, to be honest, we consistently have requests from movie studios, or from other licensors, to work with them, because Bloober Team in some way is recognizable. Unfortunately, for almost one year, we have [had to say] 'pass' to almost everything, because we don't have capacity to do any more titles at one time."
Bloober is currently working on two major projects. One is a game made with Konami – which many believe to be a Silent Hill project – and the other is a new IP with publisher Private Division. Babieno says a third game is also in pre-production. The company has previously teased some kind of return to its Layers of Fear series.
Babieno says that Bloober is resisting growing too much simply to work on more licensed games: "We could do a third project. We could [build a] bigger team, but we don't want to, because we would like to focus on quality and the feeling that [our developers are] still, in some way, independent [and] still feel that they are working on their own title."
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Star Wars: The Acolyte Will Turn Parts of the Old Extended Universe Into Canon Again
The Acolyte writer and showrunner Leslye Headland is drawing extensively from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which spans various mediums, including books, games, and comics.
We already know The Acolyte will be set during the galaxy's High Republic era, roughly 100 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace, but in a new preview with Vanity Fair, Headland shared more details about the upcoming Disney+ series. It turns out the story will lean into the Expanded Universe and bring some unofficial "legends" into the narrative canon.
"[Leslye Headland] is a gigantic Star Wars fan," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said of the series' showrunner. "What's wonderful about Leslye is she knows it all. I mean, she's read a gazillion books inside the E.U. There are little bits and pieces that she's drawing from that no one has explored yet in the onscreen storytelling."
The Acolyte will be the first screen story told from the High Republic era, which has been extensively chronicled in Lucasfilm's multi-pronged publishing initiative up until now. Headland said she knows the timeline "really well" and approached the series as a fan who is "much more into the RPG [role-playing games] that the Extended Universe feeds on."
The series will explore a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emergent dark side powers, and will likely show us the early seeds that eventually sprouted into Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declaring himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. As far as we know, Palpatine himself isn't around yet in the era of The Acolyte, but we could very well see his master, Darth Plagueis.
Traditionally, an Acolyte in the Star Wars universe refers to a member of the Sith who has begun training under the tutelage of a Sith Lord. While cast details are being kept largely under wraps, Amandla Stenberg is believed to be the top contender for the lead role, which is thought to be that of the titular "Acolyte."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
Star Wars: The Acolyte Will Turn Parts of the Old Extended Universe Into Canon Again
The Acolyte writer and showrunner Leslye Headland is drawing extensively from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which spans various mediums, including books, games, and comics.
We already know The Acolyte will be set during the galaxy's High Republic era, roughly 100 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace, but in a new preview with Vanity Fair, Headland shared more details about the upcoming Disney+ series. It turns out the story will lean into the Expanded Universe and bring some unofficial "legends" into the narrative canon.
"[Leslye Headland] is a gigantic Star Wars fan," Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said of the series' showrunner. "What's wonderful about Leslye is she knows it all. I mean, she's read a gazillion books inside the E.U. There are little bits and pieces that she's drawing from that no one has explored yet in the onscreen storytelling."
The Acolyte will be the first screen story told from the High Republic era, which has been extensively chronicled in Lucasfilm's multi-pronged publishing initiative up until now. Headland said she knows the timeline "really well" and approached the series as a fan who is "much more into the RPG [role-playing games] that the Extended Universe feeds on."
The series will explore a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emergent dark side powers, and will likely show us the early seeds that eventually sprouted into Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declaring himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. As far as we know, Palpatine himself isn't around yet in the era of The Acolyte, but we could very well see his master, Darth Plagueis.
Traditionally, an Acolyte in the Star Wars universe refers to a member of the Sith who has begun training under the tutelage of a Sith Lord. While cast details are being kept largely under wraps, Amandla Stenberg is believed to be the top contender for the lead role, which is thought to be that of the titular "Acolyte."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
How Spiders Is Making Its BioWare Dreams Come True With GreedFall 2
Jehanne Rousseau, CEO of French developer Spiders, loves BioWare games. She, along with her development team, love BioWare games so much that Spiders’ informal mission is to make character-rich RPGs during a period when BioWare… just isn't.
“We are all fans of these types of games, so I guess [the reason Spiders decided to make BioWare-style RPGs] was partly out of our frustration, because we couldn't play these types of games again,” she says. “Because [BioWare] was a huge influence to us we really wanted to be able to develop those kinds of games.”
The results of that passion haven’t always been successful, but with each new game Spiders has honed its understanding of both BioWare DNA and its own house style. 2013’s Mars: War Logs was a ropey tribute to Mass Effect, but by 2019 Spiders had its own accomplished answer to Dragon Age in the form of GreedFall. Encouraged by its biggest success so far, Spiders is now hard at work on a sequel, the recently announced GreedFall 2: The Dying World.
The plan is for GreedFall 2 to feature seven companion characters (up from the original’s five), making for a roster that rivals (at least in raw numbers) the crew of the Normandy. “You will be able to take control of them,” promises Rousseau. “So we are getting closer and closer to our reference there. The idea is really to try to give players who love the type of BioWare games like Dragon Age [the ability to] travel in another world with a different type of setting.”
That different setting is what sets Spiders’ work apart from its gameplay design inspirations. GreedFall’s universe is a fantastical reimagining of the 17th century that explores the political and societal ramifications of plague and colonisation. The Dying World, a prequel to the original game’s story, will explore this through the eyes of a native of the magical isle of Teer Fradee visiting the Gacane continent, a Europe-like powerhouse that will one day invade their homeland.
“It's a very complicated subject, to be honest with you, and we are really trying to be aware of all the sensibilities that can be hurt by it,” admits Rousseau. A lot of research has been done around the real, painful historical events that inspire GreedFall’s world, but Spiders is looking to discuss the issues of colonial politics more generally rather than replicate specific moments of the past dressed up in fantasy cosplay.
“Fantasy is really useful, it allows you to be able to talk about some very difficult subjects,” says Rousseau. She points to The Witcher as a good example, in which author Andrzej Sapkowski reflects on the suffering of Polish people at the hands of the Nazis during the 1930s and ’40s through a fantasy lens. “You can talk about these subjects without hurting people,” she says. “Being able to point to these events and say, ‘Okay, what have we done here? Shouldn't we think about it, at least?’ So I hope that is what we will be able to do with GreedFall 2.”
Thanks to an increased budget for the sequel, Spiders is able to depict a larger, fuller vision of this conflicted world. That begins with location; where GreedFall was set almost entirely on the island of Teer Fradee during the colonisation effort, The Dying World will see players exploring the Continent instead. “It's not only about complexity, it’s more to offer a wider view on the different forces that are involved in the struggles of the Continent,” Rousseau explains. “As it is bigger [than Teer Fradee], there are many more other factions, and also new countries.”
New factions and nations will hopefully lead to a deeper understanding of the many clashing viewpoints both within and outside the Continent. As is tradition with the BioWare RPG template, GreedFall explores the most prominent of these perspectives through its companion characters, and the increase in party size for GreedFall 2 will hopefully mean even more fascinating personal stories to explore.
“Of course, you will find all the romances, stories, and quests with the companions,” says Rousseau. “We really focused on them this time, even more than in the previous game, because it was clearly something that players loved. We’ve tried to develop that story more, to give even more content around [the companions] and to make sure that players will be able to develop a really real relationship with them through the game.”
Companions are not just delivery vehicles for story, though. They’re also your brothers and sisters in arms. Spiders is aiming for a higher level of tactical complexity for GreedFall 2, once again inspired by another shining star in BioWare’s library: “One of the references is the first Knights of the Old Republic,” reveals Rousseau.
The vision for GreedFall 2, at least at this early stage of development, is to replicate Knights of the Old Republic’s smart approach to real-time-with-pause combat. “[In KOTOR] you were able to select the next [combat] actions, but you were not obliged to pause for every action to make sure that your companions would do what you wanted them to,” explains Rousseau. She admits that GreedFall’s original companions were not as intelligent as she would have liked them to be, but hopes that with improved AI companions in the sequel will be able to handle their own business during regular scraps. When bosses or more complex encounters arrive, though, the pause system is intended as a powerful tool to help navigate swirling melees and volleys of pistol shots. It should enable you to consider new positions and synchronise abilities. “The idea is to create a fun experience where the player feels more in control,” Rousseau says.
With inspirations picked from BioWare’s golden years, you’d think that Spiders is aiming for the stars. Yet Rousseau is very humble about her ambitions for GreedFall 2 and her studio. “I won't say the usual stuff like, ‘We want to become the best studio in RPGs, blah, blah,’” she says. “No, it can't be true because there are far bigger studios over there. But we can deliver some amazing adventures to players and share with them this love for these types of games, for these types of stories, and this is what I'm aiming for today.”
The original GreedFall has sold two million copies. Its Steam and Metacritic pages are decorated with thousands of positive reviews from fans. Clearly Spiders has found an audience of likeminded people who just really want to play BioWare-style role playing games. GreedFall 2’s 2024 release window may put it close to the promised BioWare renaissance (Dragon Age 4 and a new Mass Effect are currently in production), but for anyone with a love of these character-rich RPGs, that just means there’s one more game to add to the wishlist.
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.
How Spiders Is Making Its BioWare Dreams Come True With GreedFall 2
Jehanne Rousseau, CEO of French developer Spiders, loves BioWare games. She, along with her development team, love BioWare games so much that Spiders’ informal mission is to make character-rich RPGs during a period when BioWare… just isn't.
“We are all fans of these types of games, so I guess [the reason Spiders decided to make BioWare-style RPGs] was partly out of our frustration, because we couldn't play these types of games again,” she says. “Because [BioWare] was a huge influence to us we really wanted to be able to develop those kinds of games.”
The results of that passion haven’t always been successful, but with each new game Spiders has honed its understanding of both BioWare DNA and its own house style. 2013’s Mars: War Logs was a ropey tribute to Mass Effect, but by 2019 Spiders had its own accomplished answer to Dragon Age in the form of GreedFall. Encouraged by its biggest success so far, Spiders is now hard at work on a sequel, the recently announced GreedFall 2: The Dying World.
The plan is for GreedFall 2 to feature seven companion characters (up from the original’s five), making for a roster that rivals (at least in raw numbers) the crew of the Normandy. “You will be able to take control of them,” promises Rousseau. “So we are getting closer and closer to our reference there. The idea is really to try to give players who love the type of BioWare games like Dragon Age [the ability to] travel in another world with a different type of setting.”
That different setting is what sets Spiders’ work apart from its gameplay design inspirations. GreedFall’s universe is a fantastical reimagining of the 17th century that explores the political and societal ramifications of plague and colonisation. The Dying World, a prequel to the original game’s story, will explore this through the eyes of a native of the magical isle of Teer Fradee visiting the Gacane continent, a Europe-like powerhouse that will one day invade their homeland.
“It's a very complicated subject, to be honest with you, and we are really trying to be aware of all the sensibilities that can be hurt by it,” admits Rousseau. A lot of research has been done around the real, painful historical events that inspire GreedFall’s world, but Spiders is looking to discuss the issues of colonial politics more generally rather than replicate specific moments of the past dressed up in fantasy cosplay.
“Fantasy is really useful, it allows you to be able to talk about some very difficult subjects,” says Rousseau. She points to The Witcher as a good example, in which author Andrzej Sapkowski reflects on the suffering of Polish people at the hands of the Nazis during the 1930s and ’40s through a fantasy lens. “You can talk about these subjects without hurting people,” she says. “Being able to point to these events and say, ‘Okay, what have we done here? Shouldn't we think about it, at least?’ So I hope that is what we will be able to do with GreedFall 2.”
Thanks to an increased budget for the sequel, Spiders is able to depict a larger, fuller vision of this conflicted world. That begins with location; where GreedFall was set almost entirely on the island of Teer Fradee during the colonisation effort, The Dying World will see players exploring the Continent instead. “It's not only about complexity, it’s more to offer a wider view on the different forces that are involved in the struggles of the Continent,” Rousseau explains. “As it is bigger [than Teer Fradee], there are many more other factions, and also new countries.”
New factions and nations will hopefully lead to a deeper understanding of the many clashing viewpoints both within and outside the Continent. As is tradition with the BioWare RPG template, GreedFall explores the most prominent of these perspectives through its companion characters, and the increase in party size for GreedFall 2 will hopefully mean even more fascinating personal stories to explore.
“Of course, you will find all the romances, stories, and quests with the companions,” says Rousseau. “We really focused on them this time, even more than in the previous game, because it was clearly something that players loved. We’ve tried to develop that story more, to give even more content around [the companions] and to make sure that players will be able to develop a really real relationship with them through the game.”
Companions are not just delivery vehicles for story, though. They’re also your brothers and sisters in arms. Spiders is aiming for a higher level of tactical complexity for GreedFall 2, once again inspired by another shining star in BioWare’s library: “One of the references is the first Knights of the Old Republic,” reveals Rousseau.
The vision for GreedFall 2, at least at this early stage of development, is to replicate Knights of the Old Republic’s smart approach to real-time-with-pause combat. “[In KOTOR] you were able to select the next [combat] actions, but you were not obliged to pause for every action to make sure that your companions would do what you wanted them to,” explains Rousseau. She admits that GreedFall’s original companions were not as intelligent as she would have liked them to be, but hopes that with improved AI companions in the sequel will be able to handle their own business during regular scraps. When bosses or more complex encounters arrive, though, the pause system is intended as a powerful tool to help navigate swirling melees and volleys of pistol shots. It should enable you to consider new positions and synchronise abilities. “The idea is to create a fun experience where the player feels more in control,” Rousseau says.
With inspirations picked from BioWare’s golden years, you’d think that Spiders is aiming for the stars. Yet Rousseau is very humble about her ambitions for GreedFall 2 and her studio. “I won't say the usual stuff like, ‘We want to become the best studio in RPGs, blah, blah,’” she says. “No, it can't be true because there are far bigger studios over there. But we can deliver some amazing adventures to players and share with them this love for these types of games, for these types of stories, and this is what I'm aiming for today.”
The original GreedFall has sold two million copies. Its Steam and Metacritic pages are decorated with thousands of positive reviews from fans. Clearly Spiders has found an audience of likeminded people who just really want to play BioWare-style role playing games. GreedFall 2’s 2024 release window may put it close to the promised BioWare renaissance (Dragon Age 4 and a new Mass Effect are currently in production), but for anyone with a love of these character-rich RPGs, that just means there’s one more game to add to the wishlist.
Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.
No Man’s Sky: Hello Games Putting ‘Finishing Touches’ on Nintendo Switch Version
No Man's Sky developer Hello Games is putting the "finishing touches" on its Nintendo Switch version of the game.
Announced in February with a summer 2022 release date, the Switch version of No Man's Sky is seemingly on schedule according to a new update.
In a press release detailing the new Leviathan Expedition, the developer said: "In the background, the rest of our small team have been hard at work putting the finishing touches to, among other things, the Nintendo Switch version and some large upcoming updates."
No Man's Sky on Switch will be the complete version of the game with all 20 major updates, including the latest two: Sentinel and Outlaws. Sentinel was released in February and completely refreshed the game's weapon system and on-foot fighting, while the Outlaws update did the same for space combat and added Han Solo-esque smuggling and space pirate missions.
Its Leviathan expedition - a relatively self-contained adventure - also launched today (May 25) and revolves around time loops and space whales.
Despite all these updates, that have rolled out every month or two in 2022 so far, No Man's Sky isn't nearly finished according to creator Sean Murray. In our 7/10 review of the 2019 Beyond update, IGN said: "No Man’s Sky Beyond is another leap forward, but doesn’t fix the grind, monotony, or dull combat."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
No Man’s Sky: Hello Games Putting ‘Finishing Touches’ on Nintendo Switch Version
No Man's Sky developer Hello Games is putting the "finishing touches" on its Nintendo Switch version of the game.
Announced in February with a summer 2022 release date, the Switch version of No Man's Sky is seemingly on schedule according to a new update.
In a press release detailing the new Leviathan Expedition, the developer said: "In the background, the rest of our small team have been hard at work putting the finishing touches to, among other things, the Nintendo Switch version and some large upcoming updates."
No Man's Sky on Switch will be the complete version of the game with all 20 major updates, including the latest two: Sentinel and Outlaws. Sentinel was released in February and completely refreshed the game's weapon system and on-foot fighting, while the Outlaws update did the same for space combat and added Han Solo-esque smuggling and space pirate missions.
Its Leviathan expedition - a relatively self-contained adventure - also launched today (May 25) and revolves around time loops and space whales.
Despite all these updates, that have rolled out every month or two in 2022 so far, No Man's Sky isn't nearly finished according to creator Sean Murray. In our 7/10 review of the 2019 Beyond update, IGN said: "No Man’s Sky Beyond is another leap forward, but doesn’t fix the grind, monotony, or dull combat."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
No Man’s Sky: New Exhibition Is a Time Loop Tale Including Space Whales
No Man's Sky is adding time loops and space whales in its Leviathan expedition, which arrives in today.
Developer Hello Games said this latest contained adventure is unlike any of the previous six expeditions – the game's story-led events. Leviathan instead represents a roguelike where the player gets stuck repeating the same sequence over and over.
Players start together on the expedition and must work together as a community to break free of the loop. Dying resets progress, but the further players get, the more the shared "universal memory" will increase.
Better upgrades will become available as this builds, allowing players to go further and work towards eventually freeing themselves.
Hello said its community has joked about the game needing space whales for some time – and this event finally adds the beasts to its universe. The story will seemingly revolve around the Leviathan, which has finally entered No Man's Sky as a creature shrouded in myth and mystery.
Upon breaking the time loop and completing the expedition, players will be given several rewards headlined by the first ever living frigate, the Space Whale itself, but also including the Whalestalker cloak, an Organic Frigate for their base, a Temporal Starship Trail, and more.
Hello Games has updated No Man's Sky several times this year already, including last month's Outlaws update that overhauled space combat and added space pirates. Giving on-planet battles the same treatment, the Sentinels update completely refreshed the game's weapons.
Despite Outlaws being the 20th major update arriving in No Man's Sky, creator Sean Murray said the game isn't finished by a long shot.
The Leviathan expedition is available May 25 on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. Nintendo players can enjoy the update alongside the rest of No Man's Sky when it comes to Switch this summer.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.