No Man's Sky, that game everyone likes to bring up when talking about how disappointing Sea Of Thieves is, is back with a huge update. Titled No Man's Sky: NEXT, it is set to be the biggest update the game has ever seen. To celebrate this update, the game will finally launch on Xbox One. And...the rest of the details have been left mysteriously unsaid.

Sean Murray, of No Man's Sky developer Hello Games, wrote a short post announcing the arrival of NEXT in summer 2018. In the post, and seemingly in typical fashion for him, he didn't actually say what NEXT will do for the game. All that's said is that it's big, it's free, and it's coming to Xbox One.

via: killscreen.com

Murray's note keeps a very positive tone, thanking the fans that have stuck with the game and noting the success of each previous update, particularly the most recent Atlas Rises. He goes on to say that Atlas Rises "represented a real inflection point in the legacy of our game." The deep thoughts and success Atlas Rises brought supposedly inspired the dev team, leading them to work with extra gusto on whatever NEXT is going to be. As to why it's called NEXT, Murray wrote "because it’s an important next step on a longer journey for us and the community."

With that, the talk of NEXT as an update ends. Details are not given on what the update will bring gameplay-wise, just promises that it will be huge and it will be free. Given No Man's Sky's previous claims of scale and depth, players should probably be skeptical. On a more delightful note, Murray does confirm that the Xbox One version of No Man's Sky will launch with all updates from the get-go. It will also support 4K and HDR on Xbox One X. Finally, he informs readers that China is No Man's Sky's second biggest region in terms of player base. The game will be brought to Chinese platform WeGame as a result.

via: nomanssky.com

NEXT certainly seems like a step in the right direction. Expanding a game's available platforms is always a good thing, as is not overpromising when it comes to features. Still, it's hard not to to be wary of Murray and his declarations of scale when it comes to No Man's Sky. Big is great, but not when it's empty. Sea Of Thieves is facing that exact problem right now. For now, all players can do is look to the stars and watch, with patience and tempered expectations, to see what exactly NEXT will bring.