An image depicting the Lush Planet type in No Man's Sky
Image via Hello Games

Is No Man’s Sky cross-platform? Crossplay compatibility, explained

Can you play the game on multiple platforms?

Each time you log in to No Man’s Sky your experience will be varied, making each exploration feel new compared to your last one. Despite a once-disastrous launch, the game has received continual care via updates and is now a massive hit across all platforms.

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With 18 quintillion planets to explore, there is always something to do in No Man’s Sky. Since the game is available on several platforms apart from PC including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, the question must be asked: Does No Man’s Sky support cross-platform play?

Does No Man’s Sky have crossplay?

The short answer to this question is yes, No Man’s Sky is perfectly compatible with being played multiplayer across several platforms. This means if you own the PC version of the game, you will be able to simultaneously play with players that own the PC version as well as other console versions of the game, and vice versa.

With so many recent games being released on several platforms, the ones with multiplayer enabled are generally granted cross-platform features so that their player base can play with others without device limitations.

Similarly, No Man’s Sky gained cross-platform features in Hello Games’ 2020 update after several fixes over the last four years before that point.

RELATED: All No Man’s Sky planet types, ranked

Now that you know No Man’s Sky can be played across multiple platforms, you will need to know how to activate and use its crossplay features.

How to use cross-platform features in No Man’s Sky

On 11 June 2020, No Man’s Sky was released on Xbox Game Pass, bringing with it an influx of new players. Because of this, Hello Games modified its network backend to allow multiplayer connections across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms.

Enabling the cross-platform option from the Network Options will allow you to see players from every platform, including your own.

An image showing the player character interacting over cross-platform with another player character in No Man's Sky.
You’ll be making friends in no time. Image via Hello Games

To make it easier to identify which device your friends or other people are on, No Man’s Sky has separate icons for different platforms.

If you take notice of the controller icon that displays next to a person’s username, you will know whether the player is playing from their PlayStation or Xbox. If they are playing from a PC platform like Steam and Xbox Game Pass, you will see the appropriate icon.

An image showcasing separate friend lists for cross-platform multiplayer on No Man's Sky.
The menus are fairly simple. Image via Hello Games

In addition, any players you meet on a cross-platform session can be added to your friend list, regardless of platform. If you add players who are on the same platform as you, such as Steam, they will be added to your Steam friend list.

However, if they are playing from a different platform, Hello Games has a separate friend list for you to access your cross-platform friends. You can also add friends via friend codes that can be shared across all platforms.

Benefits of playing No Man’s Sky cross-platform

The next question to address is why you even want to play No Man’s Sky cross-platform. There are a few good reasons for doing so.

  • Different players have different device preferences. Some would prefer playing No Man’s Sky on their PlayStation or Xbox devices while others would prefer using a mouse and keyboard on their PC. Regardless of what device you’re playing on, the gameplay experience for all players is roughly the same.
  • If you love playing No Man’s Sky and want more friends to play the game with, cross-platform is a completely viable option. Even if they don’t have access to the same device you do, that will not limit your multiplayer options.
  • If you have friends that play No Man’s Sky but none of them play on the same platform as you do, cross-platform solves that problem. Unlike how it was with older games, you will no longer need to buy another copy of the game on a different platform because of crossplay.
  • If none of your friends play No Man’s Sky, playing cross-platform will allow you to reach a larger, more passionate player base that you can play with. The game has a massive player count across all platforms and playing with them should be easier.

We believe this game is best played with friends and currently, there are several ways to interact with people across different devices on No Man’s Sky, making it even easier to find players to explore the cosmos with.


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Author
Anish Nair
Freelance gaming writer for Dot Esports. An avid gamer of 25 years with a soft spot for RPGs and strategy games. Esports writer for 2 years and a watcher for 12 years. Aspiring author. Dad to a host of animals. Usually found trying to climb ranks in Dota 2, plundering the seas in Sea of Thieves, hunting large monsters in Monster Hunter World, or mining rare minerals in Deep Rock Galactic.