No Man's Sky launched The Swarm update on August 17, bringing a new existential threat called the Hive of Glass to the game world [1, 2]. Above planets, a huge, mysterious construct resembling a Death Star looms, marking the arrival of this new in-game menace [1, 2].
Players now begin the update by taking a personality test that assigns them to one of three factions. These groups cooperate, strategize, and compete as part of a combined community war effort against the Hive of Glass [1, 2]. Hello Games chief Sean Murray said, "Players are going to need a combined community effort to figure out what is going on" [2].
The update features No Man’s Sky's largest space battles yet. Hundreds of drone ships released by the Hive swarm the battlefield to defend their massive construct [1, 2]. Murray added, "The prospect of all existing Travellers converging on a single area of the universe to take the largest space battles to date, against the back-drop of an ominous, mysterious Death Star like construct... is going to make for some exciting weeks ahead for us and for players." [2]
The Hive can open a massive iris to unleash a powerful laser blast capable of destroying freighter fleets and potentially space stations. Murray described it as "the largest weapon we’ve ever seen in No Man’s Sky. A laser capable of destroying freighter fleets and perhaps even something as large as a space station..." [2]
On planets, players can salvage and research remains of downed drones using the Gravity Gun. They also engage in combat against small planetary swarms related to the Hive [1, 2].
Progress and player contributions to the war effort are tracked in the Anomaly and Galactic Atlas. The faction with the best performance will be permanently memorialized in the Space Anomaly to commemorate their victory [1, 2].
Today's launch marks the start of community cooperation and conflict against the Hive of Glass as factions vie for supremacy across the galaxy in what the developers expect to be a multi-week event [1, 2].
