Controversial game 'No Man's Sky' is getting its first major update - and it's bringing major changes

"No Man's Sky" was a game years in the making. It promised endless space exploration - hop in a ship and jet from planet to planet at your leisure. Go on an alien safari! Collect materials!

Hello Games / ScarecrowQ

Except some people felt that their expectations were unfairly built up - that the game wasn't what the game's developers promised it would be.

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Making this all the more complicated, the massive space exploration game was made by a small handful of developers - about a dozen. To say their resources are stretched thin is a serious understatement.

On one side, fans felt ripped off; on the other, fans sympathized with a small group trying its hardest to make something gigantic. In the end, no one was happy.

Gamers scorched the game's review page on Steam, the world's largest digital-game store. The game's developers, Hello Games, largely went silent (outside of the occasional statement about bug fixes, or to say they'd been hacked).

Hello Games / Sith_Empire

On Friday, November 25, Hello Games issued its first major statement since the game's launch back in August: A major new update is coming to "No Man's Sky" in the not-so-distant future. It's called "The Foundation Update," and it brings the underpinnings of base building to "No Man's Sky" - a much-requested feature.

What's base building?

The idea is simple: After discovering a planet you like, you could craft a home on it. Think of it like "Minecraft," where you gather materials and use them to build a furnished home. The same concept applies here, though we've yet to see exactly how it'll work.

Hello Games / BaileyJIII

Structures like the one seen here are common in "No Man's Sky." The forthcoming update promises to enable the creation of unique structures.

The statement from Hello Games says this "won't be our biggest update, but it will be the start of something." More specifically, this update lays the groundwork for bigger changes coming to the game at some point. "This is putting in place a foundation for things to come," it reads.

Though Hello Games clearly intends on using the statement as a means to update players about a new addition to the game, the statement also takes time to indirectly address the fervor around the game's release. "The discussion around 'No Man's Sky' since release has been intense and dramatic," it says. "We have been quiet, but we are listening and focusing on improving the game that our team loves and feels so passionately about."

No details are given about the exact release timing of the update; the only wording used is "soon." The game is out now on PlayStation 4 and PC.