Starting August 20, one of the best-looking games on Nintendo Switch 2 can be downloaded without paying a cent.
The confirmation came from Nintendo UK’s official Twitter/X profile: No Man’s Sky is getting a fresh game trial, and the terms are unusually generous. There’s no progress cap, and no arbitrary wall waiting for you two hours in. The window closes on August 26, which leaves plenty of runway to see most of what the game currently holds.
Both the original Nintendo Switch and the Switch 2 are covered by the trial. Players on the newer machine get the upgraded version, built to take advantage of the improved hardware.
A decade of digging out of a hole
None of this timing is accidental. The game is marking its tenth anniversary, and the decade of development behind it counts as one of the most remarkable turnarounds video games have ever seen.
Cast your mind back to 2016. On release, No Man’s Sky was broadly written off as one of the biggest disappointments the medium had ever produced. Arguing about the distance between what players expected and what actually shipped became an internet genre unto itself.
Rather than walk away, Hello Games chose the unfashionable route and simply kept working. One update, then another, then another. What exists today sits well past even the loftiest expectations anyone held back then.
Sean Murray says there’s more coming
The free stretch arrives just before a final major update, tentatively titled Cosmos. Concrete details remain thin, though Hello Games lead Sean Murray offered a short statement covering where the studio has been and where it’s going next.
“Voyagers released last year saw more players than we’ve had since launch… and still, all these years later players have explored less than 1% of the planets in No Man’s Sky. In a similar way our small team feels we have a lot left to explore in what No Man’s Sky can be. In the background we are busy cooking on our next game Light No Fire, and big things for the future of No Man’s Sky, with the tease of our upcoming update titled Cosmos. More will follow!” Murray said.
Under 1% of the planets, a full ten years in. That single figure carries more weight than any marketing beat could.
Why the Switch 2 keeps collecting these
When the original Switch showed up, it changed the proverbial game. The Switch 2 took that momentum and ran, and its library has swelled to the point that it’s arguably the most compelling piece of gaming hardware you can own.
Back-catalog titles propping up the lineup played a part in that. The real unlock, though, has been the steady stream of third-party releases, which opened the ecosystem to players who previously weren’t ready to jump in. No Man’s Sky ranks among the very best examples of that second group, which turns a week of free access into an easy yes.
And then there’s the Palworld thing
Chatter across social media has centered on a possible team-up between No Man’s Sky and creature collecting giant Palworld, with both games openly discussing the idea in public.
How that plays out remains to be seen. For now, there are far worse ways to fill the back half of August than a free run on Switch 2.
A decade ago, this game was a punchline. Come August 20, it’s a free download you’ll probably end up buying anyway.