Players will soon be able to explore No Man’s Sky’s planets from an iPhone or iPad without buying a new console, but they will not be able to bring friends along through multiplayer. Hello Games has announced an October 28 mobile release, pairing a free opening section with a paid unlock for the full game and hardware-dependent access to planetary settlements.
Studio co-founder Sean Murray announced the port on October 12 in Hello Games’ development update. Pre-orders are open as part of Apple’s App Store Indie Games Week. Murray described the release as the full universe rather than a smaller mobile adaptation, with more than 40 major updates included.
There is already a date discrepancy worth flagging. The developer names October 28, while the US App Store listing checked for this report says “Expected Oct 29, 2026.” Neither source explains the difference. This report uses the studio’s announced date while preserving the store’s conflicting display, rather than treating a time-zone explanation as established fact.
The store lists a $19.99 one-time full-game unlock in the United States. Its free download label does not mean the entire game is free: the description specifies that players can try the beginning before buying access to the rest. The sources checked do not establish how long that opening section lasts, and regional prices may differ.
Multiplayer is not supported in the iOS release, Murray wrote. Planetary settlements have a separate restriction: the developer says they are supported on iPhone 15 Pro and newer. That distinction matters because missing multiplayer does not mean every settlement feature is absent on every supported device.
Engadget’s launch coverage described settlements and multiplayer as unavailable at the outset. The developer’s current announcement supplies the more specific settlement qualification. It does not provide a complete iPad settlement-support matrix, so this report does not extend the iPhone requirement to particular tablets.
Murray compared the limitations with the game’s original Nintendo Switch launch and said future iOS support would depend on feedback and how many people play. Hello Games eventually expanded its Switch offering, including on Nintendo Switch 2. That history is not a commitment to deliver multiplayer on Apple’s mobile devices by a particular date.
The project began after the studio’s Mac work, when a team member suggested getting the game running on an iPhone. Murray said he did not believe the proposition until he played it. The port depends on generating environments while the game runs, with the device creating the universe being explored instead of storing every possible planet in advance.
That approach helps explain the unusually compact download for such a broad game. Hello Games says the file comes in under 4GB, and the US store currently lists 3.8GB. These are download or package-size figures, not a guarantee that the game will never need additional free space for installation, saves or later updates.
Hello Games’ official iOS deep-dive video shows the port and the work on its interface. The studio says touch controls were rebuilt from the ground up, covering planetary exploration, flight, first-person and third-person views, vehicles and mechs. Inventory handling and crafting received particular attention because players spend substantial time in those menus.
Controllers and TV casting are also supported, Murray said, with mouse and keyboard input available on iPad. The announcement does not provide an exhaustive accessory-compatibility list. Those input options give players alternatives to touch, but they do not establish that every controller or casting setup will work identically.
Device eligibility has a second unresolved discrepancy. Murray names iPhone 11 and third-generation iPad Air and newer as the intended supported range. The US store instead states an A12 Bionic-or-newer requirement and explicitly lists iPhone XS, XS Max and XR alongside later phones. The difference should be checked against the final listing before buyers rely on an older handset.
The store also requires iOS 26.0 or iPadOS 26.0 or later. Software version is a separate requirement from chip generation or model name; meeting one does not automatically settle the other. The Eastern Herald’s coverage of Apple’s iOS 26 updates provides background on that operating-system family, not proof of game compatibility.
The included content reaches through the recent COSMOS update and last year’s Voyagers expansion, which introduced customisable large starships. Murray says the team also worked on battery life and thermal behaviour to make longer sessions comfortable. The Eastern Herald has not tested those claims or measured frame rates, heat, battery drain or graphics quality across supported devices.
For newcomers, the free opening section offers a way to assess the controls before paying. Existing players still have unanswered questions: the announcement checked here does not establish a complete cross-save policy, transfer rights for previous purchases or a multiplayer timetable. The mobile universe is arriving, but not every feature or buying decision can yet be treated as settled.
