I don’t think we set a record. Just looking at Steam Charts, No Man’s Sky checked in pretty far behind even the recent peak of the Voyagers expansion.
No Man’s Sky – Celebrating 10 Years
That said, I didn’t think we were going to get there. A few posts on social media and Reddit were not going to get to enough people for that to happen. Even the last minute boost from Hello Games on their Discord server wasn’t enough to make an impact.
As a one-time exception, we’d like to share a community initiative celebrating No Man’s Sky’s 10th anniversary. On August 9th, many No Man’s Sky communities are coming together to try to break the concurrent player record set at launch as a way of thanking Hello Games for a decade of exploration. Simply log into the game on August 9, 2026 18:00 UTC and help us set a new record!
Whatever. A celebration was had. I logged on a bit before the appointed hour, flew over to the anomaly, the nexus of community activity, the one place where you are likely to see other players if there is any sort of even going on, and danced.
As one does.
I put myself out in front of the main area between ship parking and all the NPC vendors and activities, and started to dance.
Like Billy Idol, dancing by myself
I will say this, No Man’s Sky picked a good default dance. I gather than there are some alternatives you can unlock somewhere. I occasionally see somebody swaying to a rhythm or doing a side to side cha-cha thing, but mostly we’re all out there waving our arms and doing the running man. It is an energetic but simple move than conveys a sense of joy and enthusiasm in me.
You can back it with a variety of tunes. I am not sure Riverdance should on that list, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying.
I was dancing alone. A few people were coming and going. Occasionally somebody would stop and dance along for a minute. It is a thing in the community. You just join in for a bit.
You can actually chat. There is a chat option. But people almost never use it. They just show up, dance with you a bit, and move along, likely never to be seen again. While NMS feels more crowded than its lonely origin, we remain travelers and every meeting is a chance encounter unlikely to ever be repeated again.
True to form, somebody ran by a bit later, stopped, danced a bit, then moved on.
Then somebody else came by and gave me a bunch of stuff, also a not-uncommon occurrence in the anomaly.
Some gifts… and I remember how to use chat to thank them!
This has happened to me a few times. Some apparently rich, long time player, dressed up in their finery and feeling generous, will suddenly fill up your inventory with various items. And never just cheap stuff. These people don’t hand out ferrite dust. It is usually valuable or useful items.
For example, I took the 9,999 runaway mould and refined it down to 1,999 nanite cluster, one of the in-game currencies, and definitely an amount you could buy stuff with.
The refiner output
I also went over to the Expedition for Dreamers site which had been setup to support and promote the event. There I (mostly) waited for the appointed hour and logged my activities.
The Milestones for the expedition
I did these… in spirit is not in hard reality. There were a couple I might have fudged on a bit… though I think this post, and the previous one, covers most of what I did in game.
Once I have clicked the buttons, I was given access to the big button for the reward.
Claim your Travleller Card
This turned out to be a little ID card that you could tune to your needs, and even add you picture to. I chose my long standing social media avatar, which I made ages ago with the a white square around it so my horns would appear to be breaking out of the image.
Atlas Identity Card for Wilhelm Arcturus – Traveller
I had tabbed out of the game in order to enter my objectives and then fiddled with the ID card a bit, as you ca change different aspects of it. But I left myself dancing.
And when I came back to the game, I found myself no longer alone. Several others had shown up in the open area in front of the group mission terminal and joined in the dance.
People had joined in on the dance
I kept dancing for a while longer, and people came and went as the mood struck them. Somebody even shared a bit about their time with the game.
Sharing a memory – True enough MECO, true enough
Because it is a very different game than it was back at launch in 2016.
I stayed and danced for a while longer. People came and went. And then, eventually, I felt it was my turn to move on. By virtue of my early arrival I was able to start the dance, but other carried it on after I left. They may still be dancing for all I know.
As with the dance, the anniversary events will carry on as well. We’re not even to the 10th anniversary of the game’s arrival on Steam, which hits on August 12th. And my own 10 year anniversary, such that it is, won’t hit until August 14, 2027, a bit more than a year down the road.
On top of that, we’re still waiting for what Hello Games has planned for us later this month for the 10th anniversary.
In many ways, yesterday was just a small opening act. There is more to come. Hello Games is just warming up.
Addendum:
This morning Hello Games gave us their anniversary trailer.
In that, after a run past how far the game has come, we learned that the next update will be called Cosmos.
No details yet. Just a tease. But something to look forward to.