Something to look forward to: Hello Games continues with its free content and improvements for No Man's Sky, even into the next generation of consoles. Not only does the team have a PS5 and XBSX version of the game ready for a day-one launch, existing owners of the game can upgrade for free.

Hello Games just announced another big update is coming to No Man's Sky. Version 3.10, also known as "Next Generation," is an upgrade for next-generation consoles, just as its name implies. The improvements found in the update will apply to PC users as well. Best of all, it's free for existing owners of the game.

No Man's Sky Next Generation will see many improvements. Thanks to the more powerful hardware in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the graphics will be on par with PCs. In fact, the graphical enhancements go beyond the current version on PC, but don't worry. As mentioned before all the improvements are headed to the desktop version as well.

Worlds will now be more densely populated with thicker grasses, flora, fungi, and rocks. All this new scenery will have more detailed geometry and higher resolution textures. Hello Games claims it should run smoothly in 4K at 60 frames per second on "Ultra" settings, except for Xbox Series S. The XBSS will have the chioce between high-quality native resolution at 30fps or high performance at 60fps.

Another big deal is richer base construction. Hello Games did not get into specifics but said that bases can be "larger and more complex." For reference, current construction limits are hard-coded at 20,000 base parts per game save with about 2,000 parts per base before you start experiencing performance hits. If the base seen briefly in the Next Generation trailer is anything to go by, it will be a while before players start complaining about hitting their limits.

Another exciting prospect is a 32-player multiplayer limit. Currently, up to 8 users on consoles (32 on PC) can wander around in the Nexus (a hub) and form parties of up to four players. After the update, parties can hold up to 32 players.

To make large party prospects even greater, all iterations of the universe have been "unified." HG says this means that PS5 and XBSX players can join games on "all other platforms." Crossplay in No Man's Sky is not completely new. Developers added cross-platform play in June. So enabling it for PS5 and XBSX is more like welcoming them into the fold.

"Explore, build, fight and survive alongside more Travellers than ever before."

Of course, HG is taking advantage of the DualSense controller's haptic feedback and the PlayStation 5's 3D audio. It says the haptics range from subtle vibrational cues like when you place a base piece to more substantial bumps like when you fire your weapon. The 3D audio will bring more precise positioning of sounds. I am interested in seeing (or hearing) this in action, as currently, it is difficult to tell the position of creatures or other noises.

Players who have invested a lot of time into the game need not worry. The Next Generation update will include a data migration tool to transfer your existing NMS saves to your new PS5. Xbox One saves are automatically compatible with the Series X.

Version 3.10 includes many other bug fixes and general quality of life improvement, which you can read about in the patch notes. The update will launch alongside the new consoles next month.