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No Man’s Sky 4.0 includes a ‘relaxed’ mode to ease in returning players

Hello Games is releasing No Man’s Sky version 4.0 alongside the Nintendo Switch release, and it will include a new “Relaxed” mode, making it less overwhelming for returning players.

This mode, according to a report from PC Gamer, still offers the general sandbox experience, but with less of an emphasis on survival. Relaxed mode will also allow players to continue a previous save or start a new one from scratch. The new mode falls somewhere between standard Survival and Creative, allowing newcomers and longtime players to enjoy various new features without having to grind as much to do so.

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Hello Games Founder Sean Murray tells Eurogamer that the new Relaxed mode is a “very fun version of No Man’s Sky  where the focus is on exploration, less on just surviving and grinding, [where it’s easier] to see the six years of content that’s there.” Murray explains how many players are hesitant to return to No Man’s Sky because of all the content, so this new mode aims to streamline the experience.

Version 4.0 will also feature a “massively increased” inventory with more storage slots, along with a more challenging version of Survival mode. “Over time, as you got better at the game and leveled up, [Survival mode] stopped being as difficult, so we’ve also revisited that and actually crank the survival element way higher,” Murray tells PC Gamer.

The new update gives players more freedom to customize game difficulty all around, such as the ability to add permadeath to the Relaxed game mode, as well.

No Man’s Sky version 4.0 launches for all platforms alongside the Nintendo Switch version on October 7, 2022.

Joseph Yaden
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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