I'm really not sure what I was expecting from No Man's Sky's next update after Hello Games surprise-released a music and audio tool at the end of last year, but I'm almost one hundred percent certain it wasn't an organic spaceship you can grow from an egg. And yet here we are, with the Living Ship update due out today on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
No Man's Sky's fascinating new mode of transport - a somewhat unnerving blend of insect and tentacular deep sea monstrosity - can be grown from Void Eggs, a process initially requiring players to complete the new Starbirth mission sequence that begins at the Space Anomaly.
Hello Games notes that Living Ships come with their own unique range of organic technologies, and that players can hatch and evolve procedural upgrades in order to grow their own custom ships. Furthermore, multiple ships can be hatched from additional eggs.



Elsewhere in the new Living Ship update, solar systems are being imbued with more variety and life. Strange Objects, for instance, including the likes of giant space skulls and squiggly disco balls, can now be encountered while travelling between planets. Dropping out of pulse-flight enables pilots to explore these curious points of interest and reap exotic rewards.
Players can also encounter passing trader ships while roaming the depths of space, and these might open communications to request assistance, trades, or more.
According to Hello Games, the Living Ship update marks a continued shift toward more frequent content drops from the studio following the massive, but long-in-development Next and Beyond updates. "Whilst we continue to work on more radical things longer term in the background," it says, "we are experimenting with releasing content we know the community would enjoy as soon as we're able."
Hello Games' website has the full patch notes for the Living Ship update, and new players eager to hatch their own organic vessel and take to the stars in slightly squidgy style can currently purchase No Man's Sky on Steam and GOG for £19.99, half its usual price. It's also £15.74 on the PlayStation Store and £19.99 on Xbox if you have a Live Gold subscription.