Expedition Sixteen: The Cursed

October 23, 2024.

Hello Everyone!

Our last update saw players enjoying a nice chilled time, fishing in No Man’s Sky. Our next update couldn’t be more different! As we approach Halloween, we are embracing the spookier side of the No Man’s Sky Universe, drawing upon threads first established way back in Atlas Rises, when ancient portals began to open and the boundaries between realities first began to crumble…

Today, we are announcing expedition sixteen: The Cursed – where players will fight to keep a grip on reality while haunted by visions and voices from another dimension.

The Cursed takes place in a sort of twilight realm, straddling the boundary between one reality and the next.

Travellers will not have access to hyperdrive technology, meaning no warping between star systems. Instead, interstellar travel can only take place via the ancient portal network.

Haunting voices, leaking through from another dimension, will provide guidance, information, strange blueprints… and mystery. It is up to you to decide who these voices belong to, where they are coming from, and if they are to be trusted.

In regular No Man’s Sky play, Travellers must steel themselves against a variety of environmental hazards such as extreme temperatures, radioactivity, and toxic atmospheres. The Cursed, however, pits you against a single, more insidious threat: the weakening of the boundaries of reality. Your exosuit comes fitted with a specialised Anomaly Suppressor; maintain it to stay firmly in this reality.

Spectral anomalies – ghostly creatures drifting across the boundaries – will gather to watch Travellers moving through their domain. Most of the time, they are simply there to observe, but be warned: as your suit’s Anomaly Suppressor weakens, time will begin to behave in non-linear ways, and these anomalies may turn hostile.

Travellers will need to prepare a number of otherworldly concoctions to navigate through The Cursed. Sustain boundary strength with the Elixir of Glass, reveal the location of portals with the Elixir of Quicksilver, and prise open the gateways with the Elixir of Blood. For those that reach the end of the journey, its final trial will require a drink from the Elixir of Water – and the consequences thereafter.

The Cursed expedition begins today, and will run for approximately two weeks. Travel beyond the boundaries, and fortify your mind against spectral anomalies – or succumb to the call of the world of glass.

The Cursed Expedition Rewards

Boundary Anomaly, Portal Breach and Glyph Posters

Remember your journey across the boundaries with these decorative posters: warnings to all those who would venture into the tunnels of the portal network.

Anomaly Seal Base Part

During The Cursed, the spectral energy radiating from this ancient artifact protects nearby entities against catastrophic reality breaches.

In a more stable universe, the Anomaly Seal serves as a decorative souvenir from beyond the boundaries.

Ink-Stained Jetpack Trail

An exclusive jetpack customisation. A localised anomaly within the jetpack’s core allows the spectral afterglow of the boundary horrors to leak across into this reality.

Boundary Horror Mandibles

An exclusive Exosuit Appearance Override. Transform your facade into that of a Boundary Horror, a fragment of what dwells beyond the tunnels of the portal network…

Bioluminescent Companion

The egg of a gelatinous and luminescent lifeform. This unusual companion creature is lit by a haunting pale glow.

Boundary Herald Starship

Retrieve this exclusive starship from the reality collapse, and slice through the skies in UFO-like style.

Community Research

The Quicksilver Synthesis Companion’s latest research endeavour is a set of Blue, Purple and Teal fireworks, which burst into a cluster of wildly spiralling ribbons upon launch. Every mission completed at the Nexus contributes towards the research progress for these exotic items.

Community Spotlight

u/Johnnyoneshot made this cool experimental Multi-Tool!

u/InigoMToya has been sharing a series of these lovely illustrated personal logs.

This fishing-inspired comic from u/Imphead9 made us chuckle!

Finally, some beautiful in-game photography from Lewozz, Mughragh, pulsarbmx and Dinginator08.

Development Update

The Cursed expedition is our sixth named update for 2024, following Omega, Orbital, Adrift, Worlds Part I, and Aquarius. It has been a busy year so far! It’s incredible to think that only a few weeks ago, fishing didn’t exist in No Man’s Sky.

We are continuing to build our universe, and have so much more in store.

We are also continuing to build our new game, Light No Fire. You can wishlist it on Steam here.

Our journey continues.

Sean

5.20 Patch Notes

Expedition Sixteen, The Cursed, will begin shortly and run for approximately two weeks.
During the expedition, the boundary walls between universes have begun to crumble. All conventional hazards have been replaced by Local Boundary Strength, which must be maintained to avoid the intrusion of the boundary horrors…
Rewards include new posters, decals and titles; a new jetpack trail; a bioluminescent companion; a cursed helmet customisation; and the exclusive Boundary Herald starship.

Introduced a number of particle rendering optimisations.
Fixed a number of graphical corruption issues on Xbox.
Fixed an issue with depth of field rendering on Switch.
Fixed a number of minor graphical issues on PS5.
Introduced a shadow rendering optimisation on PS5.

Fixed a rare issue that prevented some large saves from loading correctly.
Fixed a rare hang related to weather effects in multiplayer.
Fixed a crash related to loading frigates.
Fixed a number of performance issues on Switch related to use of the Analysis Visor.

The message style for Communication Station messages has been improved.
Fixed an issue that caused Sac Venom not to correctly display growing information in the Analysis Visor.
Fixed an issue that caused butterfly wing audio to be too loud.
Fixed an issue that caused the HoverDroid companion to fail to move.
Fixed an issue that made it difficult to harvest hypnotic eyes from the abyssal horrors.
Increased the amount of bait given when crafting specialist bait items.
Fixed an issue that caused the backpack to be rendered with an incorrect offset in the inventory if the player has a cape equipped.
Fixed an issue which could cause the player’s feet to appear reversed.
Fixed an issue that caused specific face shapes to revert to the default when exiting the Appearance Modifier.

Fixed an issue that could cause some generated pinning missions to skip some crafting steps.
Fixed a number of glitches with the navigation of hostile AI starships.
Fixed an issue that caused the fireplace flames to be purple.
Fixed a text issue that affected the Angler’s Diary entries after the Aquarius Expedition ended.
Fixed a minor text issue in the Previous Expeditions page.
Fixed a minor UI issue that caused damaged equipment warnings to flash at inappropriate times.
Fixed a number of minor animation glitches.
Fixed an issue that caused incorrect text to appear on various fleet management pages when viewing the Normandy frigate.
Fixed an issue that could allow system authorities to perform cargo scans while paused/in the UI.
Fixed a VFX issue when destroying some small plants.