No Man's Sky: The Cursed Adds the Game’s First Flying Saucer, ‘A Gorgeous Giger-Esque Coil of Tubes, Pipeworks and Engines’

No Man’s Sky has launched its 16th expedition, The Cursed — an “unexpectedly creepy update” that hits the eternally popular space game just in time for Halloween.

Developer Hello Games said The Cursed is a “weird and unsettling” gameplay event in which players “fight to keep a grip on reality” while haunted by visions and voices from another dimension. It takes place in what’s described as a “sort of twilight universe” in which time can shift unexpectedly, day turning to night “at a vertigo inducing rate.”

The Cursed introduces the new Boundary Starship, No Man’s Sky’s first flying saucer. “It's a gorgeous Giger-esque coil of tubes, pipeworks and engines,” Hello Games said. Here’s the official blurb:

Players must protect themselves against the weakening of the boundaries of reality. The exosuit’s usual hazard protection has been replaced with a specialized Anomaly Suppressor — maintaining this is the key to surviving while the universe begins to break down around you.

As players struggle to navigate these haunted worlds, they may come face to face with the ghostly beings that drift across the boundaries. Sometimes these spectral anomalies merely observe, and sometimes they can turn much more hostile... These encounters provide players with new challenging enemies and boss battles, at a scale not seen before in No Man’s Sky.

Travellers will not have access to hyperdrive technology, meaning no warping between star systems. Instead, interstellar travel requires careful planning and use of the ancient portal network.

Haunting voices leak through from another dimension, providing guidance, information, strange blueprints… and mystery. Players will have to decide who these voices belong to, where they are coming from, and if they are to be trusted…”

As you’d expect, The Cursed has a set of exclusive spooky rewards, including a Cthulhu-esque Horror Exosuit customisation, bioluminescent pets, and the aforementioned UFO-like Boundary Herald Starship.

The expedition begins today, October 23, and runs for approximately three weeks. Hello Games added that in the coming weeks it will launch an update for No Man’s Sky that takes advantage of the incoming PS5 Pro at launch. The $700 PS5 Pro comes out on November 7.

No Man's Sky launched in 2016 initially for PC and PlayStation 4 before coming out on Xbox One in 2018, and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S in 2020. A Nintendo Switch version followed in 2022. Over the years, Hello Games has issued a long list of major updates that have continued to boost player numbers.

Indeed, it's a busy time for Hello Games, which alongside updates for No Man’s Sky is working on its next game, Light No Fire. It's about adventure, building, survival and exploration together, set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.