No Mans Sky Comes to iOS October 28 With Free Trial

Hello Games has announced that No Man's Sky is coming to iOS on October 28, bringing the full open world space exploration RPG to iPhone and iPad. The mobile release uses a try before you buy model, so players can play the opening section free and then unlock the complete game with a single $19.99 purchase, according to the official announcement and the No Man's Sky App Store listing.

Quick facts

• Game: No Man's Sky, an open world space exploration RPG
• Developer: Hello Games
• iOS launch: October 28 on iPhone and iPad
• Pricing: free trial of the opening section, $19.99 one-time full game unlock
• Download size: 3.8 GB per the App Store listing
• Requirements: iOS 26.0 or later with an A12 Bionic chip or newer
• Content: every major update from Foundation through COSMOS included
• Android: Google Play release listed as coming soon

Ten Years of Updates Included From Day One

The headline promise of the iOS version is completeness. Hello Games says the mobile release ships with a decade of post launch updates baked in, stretching from the early Foundation expansion all the way to COSMOS. The App Store page backs that up with a long update manifest that runs through Pathfinder, Atlas Rises, NEXT, Beyond, Origins, Frontiers, Endurance, Waypoint, Echoes, Omega, both Worlds chapters, Voyagers, and COSMOS as version 7.0. For new players that means the mobile edition skips the thin launch era entirely and starts at the current state of the game.

That completeness also shapes the business model. Instead of a subscription or a stack of smaller purchases, the iOS edition pairs a free trial with one $19.99 unlock that opens the full game and its ten years of updates. Players who remember the original 2016 launch followed by years of free expansions will recognize the pattern, since Hello Games built its reputation on growing No Man's Sky long after release rather than charging for each chapter. Details on the journey so far are documented on the official No Man's Sky website, which tracks the update history across every platform.

Built for Phones and Tablets

Hello Games is adapting the game for mobile hardware rather than shipping a straight port of the desktop interface. The iOS edition uses touch controls tuned for phones and tablets alongside full support for external gamepads, so players can choose between on screen input and a controller depending on where they play. Both iPhone and iPad are supported from a single App Store release, which keeps the player base together instead of splitting it across device specific builds.

The system requirements draw a clear compatibility line. Players need iOS 26.0 or later running on a device with an A12 Bionic chip or newer, which covers iPhones back to the XS generation and a wide range of recent iPads. The 3.8 GB download size is modest next to the console and PC builds, a sign of how much compression and asset tuning went into fitting a procedural galaxy onto mobile storage. Anyone holding an older device should check the compatibility list on the store page before getting excited, since chips older than the A12 fall outside the supported range.

The Same Shared Universe on the Go

Nothing about the core loop has been cut to fit the smaller screen, based on the announcement. Mobile players fly directly from deep space to planetary surfaces with no loading screens, and every star remains a real destination orbited by explorable planets. The familiar career paths all carry over, so players can live as a fighter hunting pirates for bounties, a trader moving rich resources between galactic markets, or an explorer pushing past the known frontier to chart worlds no one has seen before.

The shared galaxy structure survives the transition as well. Trade convoys still travel between stars, factions still compete for territory, and every player still inhabits the same universe, with discoveries that can be shared on a map spanning known space. That continuity matters because No Man's Sky has always been a game about a common cosmos rather than isolated single player instances. Survival still hinges on the same choices around upgrading ships, weapons, and suits, and death still carries a cost, so the mobile edition reads as the genuine article rather than a simplified companion app.

Try Before You Buy and Android to Follow

The free trial design lowers the risk of jumping in. Players can experience the beginning of the game at no cost and decide whether the exploration loop clicks before paying the $19.99 unlock, a friendlier setup than a blind premium purchase. The App Store listing currently shows the game as expected around launch day, so interested players should watch the store page for the download to go live on October 28.

Android owners will need patience. The Google Play Store version is officially listed as coming soon, with no firm date attached yet. Given that the iOS edition bundles the complete update history through COSMOS, the Android build will likely follow the same content complete template when it arrives. Mobile therefore looks set to become a full member of the No Man's Sky platform family rather than a late or limited addition, and a decade of expansions gives new handheld players plenty of galaxy to get lost in.

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