No Man's Sky starts fifth anniversary celebrations today with new pets update Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. No Man's Sky starts fifth anniversary celebrations today with new pets update Tame! Raise! Train! Breed! More! News by Matt Wales Reporter Published on 17 Feb 2021 42 comments This August marks five years since exploratory sci-fi sim No Man's Sky's release, and developer Hello Games says it has "a lot planned" for its fifth anniversary year - with celebrations starting today, 17th February, in the form of the new Companions update. Companions is all about pets, and finally gives No Man's Sky's menagerie of weird and wonderful procedural wildlife some much-expanded functionality - with fearless explorers now able to tame, breed, train, and even speak to the creatures they meet. Once a player adopts a creature it will accompany them on their adventures, travelling by their side. These companions can be petted, fed, and played with, and will react to other Travellers in different ways, based on their unique personalities - defined by their species and ecosystem. Creatures can even transmit their thoughts to players, which are translated and sent directly to their internal communication channels via a "neural harness". Watch on YouTube No Man's Sky Companions Trailer. Beyond companionship, creatures can be trained to perform a range of useful tasks, including scanning for resources, identifying hazards, unearthing buried treasure, providing light, hunting dangerous fauna, even mining for minerals. Additionally, properly nurtured companions will lay eggs to hatch and raise into full-grown adults, and the Space Anomaly's new Egg Sequencer can genetically modify eggs into even more exotic species. It's possible to trade the most interesting results with other players too. No Man's Sky's Companions update also brings customisable accessories and decals that can be used to give pets a distinct look, and, as detailed in the accompanying patch notes, there are significant improvements to load and warp times for PS4 players too. "This proves to be a very exciting year for No Man's Sky," concludes Hello Games, "and we're excited to show you what else we have planned on the roadmap." Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Atari will hold RollerCoaster Tycoon rights for another decade Ups and downs. 7 Lady Dimitrescu will be a tad smaller in Resident Evil Village's Mercenaries DLC Level the playing field. 1 Overwatch 2 suffers another DDoS attack and character roster bugs Mei Mei. 13 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store