No Man’s Sky Swarm Update Brings Hive Ships and Community Battles You Cannot Ignore

Hello Games just dropped the Swarm update for No Man’s Sky and it hits differently from anything the game has done before. I have been playing No Man’s Sky on and off since launch, and this is one of those updates that made me cancel my evening plans. Hive ships, drone armies, coordinated community expeditions, and a whole new reason to go back into space. Let me walk you through all of it.

What Is the No Man’s Sky Swarm Update

The Swarm update is not a balance patch or a quality of life fix. It is a full content drop that changes how space combat feels and introduces a new threat that operates at a scale the game has never seen before. Giant hive ships now appear across the universe. These are not small enemy craft. These are enormous structures surrounded by swarms of battle drones, and they are aggressive from the moment you enter their range.The update also ties directly into the community event system. Hello Games structured the new Hive Expedition around three groups working simultaneously toward one shared goal. You are not grinding solo for personal rewards. You are contributing to something that requires thousands of players to push together. That shift in design philosophy is worth paying attention to.

Hive Ships Explained: What You Are Actually Fighting

The first time I ran into a hive ship, I thought my game had glitched. One moment I was flying through an empty star system doing my usual scan loop. The next, my screen was filling up with alerts and the sky around me went dark with drones.Hive ships are massive combat structures that float in space and deploy waves of drones to protect themselves. The drones are not slow. They move fast, they coordinate, and they target your ship aggressively. The hive ship itself is the real target, but getting to it means fighting through the drone defense layers first.There are a few things worth noting about the encounter design:

• Drone waves scale based on how many players are engaged in the system
• The hive ship has weak points that respond to specific weapon types
• Destroying drones generates salvageable components you can use for upgrades
• Retreating and re-engaging is a valid strategy, especially in solo play

The fights are long if you go in underprepared. If your ship weapons are not upgraded and your shields are running base stats, you will lose. This is one of those updates where your progression actually matters. The game is not punishing you, but it is asking you to be ready.

The Hive Expedition and Community Goals

This is the part of the update that surprised me most. The Hive Expedition splits the global player base into three groups. Each group has its own set of missions and targets, but all three feed into a single community progress bar. The idea is that no single group can complete the expedition alone. Everyone has to contribute.I have seen community events in No Man’s Sky before, but this structure feels more intentional. You are assigned to a group when you start the expedition. Your missions are specific to that group. And the rewards at the end depend on how much of the shared goal the entire community managed to complete.It is a clever way to make a solo-friendly game feel genuinely multiplayer without forcing you into a lobby or a co-op session. You are playing your own game, but your actions have weight beyond your own save file.

No Man’s Sky on Nintendo Switch 2

The Switch 2 version of No Man’s Sky is worth talking about separately because it is a genuinely improved experience. The game runs at higher frame rates, loads faster, and looks significantly better than the original Switch version. If you already had the game on Switch, the upgrade is free.Cross-save support means your existing progress carries over. If you have hundreds of hours on PS5 or PC, you can pick up exactly where you left off on Switch 2. That is not a small thing. Being able to play the full game during a commute or a lunch break without losing progress is the kind of feature that changes how you engage with a 200-hour open world experience.The Swarm update is available on Switch 2 from launch, so you are not waiting on a delayed port. Everything covered in this article applies to that version.

Full Controller Button Layout Guide for PC and Xbox

Whether you are a returning player or coming in fresh for the Swarm update, the controller layout in No Man’s Sky has a lot going on. Here is a complete breakdown so you are not fumbling through menus during a hive ship encounter.

Xbox Controller Layout

Button / Input	On Foot Action	In Ship Action	In Menu
Left Stick	Move character	Pitch and roll ship	Navigate options
Right Stick	Camera / look around	Camera pan	Scroll lists
Left Stick Click (L3)	Sprint toggle	Boost / afterburner	Not used
Right Stick Click (R3)	Melee attack	Not used	Not used
A Button	Interact / confirm	Confirm	Select / confirm
B Button	Jump / jetpack	Land / take off	Back / cancel
X Button	Reload / secondary action	Weapon switch	Context action
Y Button	Torch / flashlight toggle	Target lock toggle	Sort inventory
Left Bumper (LB)	Switch multi-tool mode	Pulse engine toggle	Tab left
Right Bumper (RB)	Scan / analysis visor	Shield recharge	Tab right
Left Trigger (LT)	Aim / scope	Fire secondary weapon	Not used
Right Trigger (RT)	Fire weapon / dig	Fire primary weapon	Not used
D-Pad Up	Emote wheel	Warp drive charge	Not used
D-Pad Down	Marker / waypoint	Landing gear toggle	Not used
D-Pad Left	Quick access left	Weapon slot left	Not used
D-Pad Right	Quick access right	Weapon slot right	Not used
Start / Menu Button	Open main menu / pause	Open main menu / pause	Pause
Select / View Button	Open quick menu	Open quick menu	Not used

PC Controller Layout (Xbox Controller on PC via Steam)

When you play No Man’s Sky on PC with an Xbox controller through Steam, the layout mirrors the console version almost exactly. The key difference is that PC allows you to rebind every input through the in-game settings or through Steam Input. Here are the defaults:

Button / Input	On Foot Action	In Ship Action	Notes
Left Stick	Move	Pitch and roll	Sensitivity adjustable in settings
Right Stick	Look	Camera	Invert Y option in settings
A	Interact	Confirm / select	Same as console
B	Jump / jetpack	Take off or land	Hold for sustained jetpack
X	Reload	Switch weapons	Hold to pick up items
Y	Torch toggle	Target lock	Hold Y opens build menu on foot
LB	Multi-tool mode switch	Pulse engine	Tap to cycle modes
RB	Analysis visor / scanner	Shield boost	Hold to scan environment
LT	Aim down sights	Secondary fire	Partial press works for aim assist
RT	Shoot / dig / build	Primary fire	Hold for continuous mining beam
L3	Sprint	Boost	Toggle sprint is available in settings
R3	Melee	Not assigned	Can be rebound
D-Pad Up	Emote wheel	Warp charge	Hold for full emote list
D-Pad Down	Place waypoint	Gear toggle	Marks points of interest
D-Pad Left / Right	Shortcut wheel	Weapon cycle	Customizable in quick menu
Menu	Pause / main menu	Pause / main menu	Leads to save, options, quit
View	Quick menu	Quick menu	Access life support, hazard, suit

Combat Tips Based on the Controller Layout

For the hive ship encounters specifically, there are a few input habits worth building before you fly into one of these fights:

• Use LB to switch your multi-tool to Mining Laser mode when you need to crack open drone wreckage for materials. Switch back to Boltcaster or Scatter Blaster for direct combat using the same button.
• In ship combat, RT is your primary fire but LT fires your secondary. Make sure your secondary is something useful before entering a hive zone. Rocket launchers and infra-knife accelerators both perform well against hive ships.
• L3 boost in ship is your emergency out when drone swarms get too thick. Use it to create distance, recharge shields with RB, then re-engage.
• RB on foot activates the scanner, which shows nearby resources with colored markers. During the Hive Expedition missions, scanning frequently helps you locate required materials faster.
• Hold Y on foot to open the build menu. If you are in the middle of a planet-side expedition mission and need to set up a shelter during a storm, this is the fastest way in.

Keyboard and Mouse Layout for PC Players

Key	On Foot	In Ship
W A S D	Move	Pitch and roll
Space	Jump / jetpack	Take off
Left Shift	Sprint	Boost
Left Mouse Button	Fire primary	Fire primary weapon
Right Mouse Button	Aim	Fire secondary
R	Reload	Weapon switch
F	Interact	Interact with cockpit
E	Quick menu	Quick menu
Tab	Inventory	Inventory
X	Torch toggle	Landing gear
Z	Scanner / visor	Scan
G	Grenade / secondary	Not assigned
B	Build mode	Not assigned
Escape	Pause menu	Pause menu
1, 2, 3	Multi-tool mode switch	Weapon slots
Q	Pulse toggle	Pulse engine
C	Melee	Not assigned

All PC keybindings can be changed in the options menu under Controls. If you are coming from another space game, remapping the scanner to a mouse button can make exploration much smoother since you will be using it constantly.

Game Modes in No Man’s Sky and Which One to Pick

No Man’s Sky gives you real choices about how hard you want the game to be. This matters a lot in the context of the Swarm update because hive ship encounters scale differently depending on your mode.Normal Mode is the default experience. Resources are available in reasonable quantities, enemies are aggressive but manageable, and deaths set you back without being devastating. Most players should start here.Relaxed Mode reduces pressure across the board. Enemies are less aggressive, resources are more abundant, and survival mechanics are forgiving. If you want to focus on exploration and the Hive Expedition story content without getting wiped repeatedly in space combat, this is the right choice.Survival Mode is genuinely difficult. Enemy attacks hit harder, resources are scarce, and every resource decision matters. Hive ship encounters in Survival Mode are punishing. You need upgraded gear, a well-built ship, and a plan. If you enjoy that kind of pressure, the encounters in this mode are some of the most intense the game offers.Permadeath Mode combines Survival difficulty with permanent saves. If you die, that save is gone. This mode is for experienced players who know the systems well. The hive ship fights in Permadeath are absolutely not something to attempt with base gear.Creative Mode removes survival mechanics entirely. You can build, explore, and engage with the Hive Expedition content without any combat pressure. Ship destruction does not end your run. Good for players who want the narrative content without the challenge.

How No Man’s Sky Has Changed Since Launch

If you walked away from No Man’s Sky in the first year and never came back, you are essentially thinking about a completely different game. The version that exists now has almost nothing in common with the 2016 release beyond the core exploration loop and the procedural generation engine.Here is a short timeline of the major content additions that changed the game:

• Foundation Update added base building and survival mode
• Pathfinder brought land vehicles and PS4 Pro support
• Atlas Rises expanded the story, added multiplayer glimpses, and introduced portals
• Next was the full multiplayer overhaul, including third-person view and joint exploration
• Beyond added VR support and the online Nexus hub
• Origins completely regenerated the universe with new terrain and visual diversity
• Companions added alien creature taming and breeding
• Outlaws brought piracy, illegal goods, and solar ship types
• Interceptor added corrupted sentinel planets and a new ship class
• Echoes expanded Sentinel lore and added aquatic robot life forms
• Omega revamped the tutorial and introduced the Expeditions update path
• Worlds Part I and II improved planetary generation significantly
• Swarm is the current update introducing hive ships and the community expedition system

Every one of these updates was free. No paid DLC, no season passes, no microtransactions for gameplay content. That is unusual for a live service game at this scale and it is worth saying plainly.

Survival Mechanics Still Matter

One thing the Swarm update does not change is the core survival loop, and that is fine. Resource gathering, suit maintenance, and hazard management are still the foundation of the on-foot experience.Your life support drains over time on foot and needs carbon or di-hydrogen to refill. Your hazard protection depletes on planets with extreme weather or radiation. Sodium and sodium nitrate are your primary hazard protection refill materials and you will burn through them fast on toxic or extreme planets.Your multi-tool mining beam needs ferrite dust and carbon to run. Your jetpack needs di-hydrogen or launch thruster fuel to take off. These systems are interconnected and the game expects you to stay on top of all of them simultaneously.During the Swarm expedition, some missions will take you to planets with hostile conditions. Going in without checking your suit upgrades and resource reserves first is how you end up stranded during a storm with no materials to repair your landing thrusters.I learned that the hard way on a toxic planet two expeditions ago. I had plenty of combat upgrades but my life support was half empty and I had no backup carbon. Twenty minutes of careful foraging in acid rain later, I made it back to my ship. That is the kind of moment that defines this game for me.

Tips for New Players Starting With the Swarm Update

If you are new and the Swarm update is why you picked up the game, here is a practical starting approach:Complete the tutorial. All of it. The tutorial in No Man’s Sky is long and detailed and some players skip parts of it, which causes problems later. The game teaches you multi-tool modes, base building, inventory management, and ship combat through the opening hours. Do not rush past it.Do not attempt hive ship encounters until your ship has at least three or four weapon upgrades installed. The base ship weapons deal very low damage against hive drones. You need S-class weapon upgrades or at minimum A-class modules to make the fights manageable.Upgrade your hyperdrive early. The Hive Expedition missions will send you to specific star systems. Without a warp drive upgrade, you cannot reach some of them because they require advanced hyperdrive technology to access specific galaxy types like Korvax, Vy’keen, or Gek systems.Join the Anomaly. The Space Anomaly is a multiplayer hub you unlock early in the main story. Inside it, you can find other players, trade technology, and get Quicksilver rewards from community missions. It is also where you pick up Expedition missions formally.Save often. The game autosaves when you board your ship, enter a space station, or use a save point on a planet. But manual saves through the quick menu are free and fast. Use them before any hive ship engagement.

Tips for Returning Players

If you are coming back after a long gap, the game will look unfamiliar in some menus. Here is what has changed most noticeably:The inventory system was restructured. You now have separate inventory tabs for your suit, your ship, your multi-tool, and your freighter. Items no longer stack the same way they used to. Refiner recipes have also been updated so some old material-to-nanite exploits no longer work.Sentinels are more aggressive than before and have more unit types. The Hardframe sentinel, which is a heavy bipedal walker, appears during high-wanted-level encounters and requires focused fire to take down. It will one-shot you on Survival if you are not careful.Settlements were added in the Frontiers update. You can claim and manage an alien settlement, make decisions that affect the population, and build it up over time. It is a light management layer on top of the exploration game but it gives you a reason to return to specific planets regularly.Expeditions now have a dedicated tab in the menu and can be started from any existing save. You do not need to create a new save file to participate in the Hive Expedition, but using a new one gives you a clean progression path without legacy inventory complications.

Progression and Upgrades You Want Before Fighting Hive Ships

Ship combat in the Swarm update rewards preparation. Here is a specific list of what to prioritize:Ship Weapons: Phase Beam is solid for sustained damage against the hive ship body. Infra-Knife Accelerator handles drones well because of its multi-shot spread. Rocket Launchers deal burst damage against weak points. Install upgrade modules for whichever weapon you plan to use most.Ship Shield: Three shield upgrade modules at A-class or above will double your effective health in space combat. This is the single highest-value upgrade before engaging hive ships.Ship Maneuverability: Pulse Engine upgrades improve your speed and handling. In hive drone swarms, your ability to move erratically and break drone targeting matters. A fast ship survives longer than a heavily armored slow ship in these encounters.Suit Combat Upgrades: If you are doing any planet-side expedition missions during Swarm, make sure your combat protection modules are installed. Sentinel encounters on hostile planets are part of several expedition milestone objectives.Nanite Economy: Upgrades cost nanites. The fastest ways to earn nanites in the current version are scanning plants and creatures with the Analysis Visor, selling unwanted upgrade modules at technology merchants, and completing Nexus missions in the Space Anomaly. The Swarm expedition itself rewards nanites at several milestone stages.

What the Swarm Update Gets Right

The design decision to make the Hive Expedition a community effort rather than a personal progression system is the update’s biggest strength. No Man’s Sky has always had a tension between being a solo game and being a shared universe. The Swarm update resolves that tension by making community participation meaningful without making it mandatory.You can complete every hive encounter solo if your ship is capable enough. You can run every expedition milestone in single player. But the overall goal of the expedition, the shared progress bar, is only completable if enough players across all three groups engage with it. That gives the update a natural deadline and a reason to play now rather than later.The hive ships themselves are a strong combat design. They are large enough to feel like a real threat in space. The drone wave system creates phases to the fight rather than a single health bar drain. And the visual design is genuinely intimidating in a way that fits the aesthetic of the game.Hello Games also kept the update accessible. You do not need to be a veteran player to encounter and engage with hive ships. They appear in procedurally chosen star systems but the game scales early encounters to your current ship strength. A player in the mid-game can participate in the expedition content without being locked out by veteran gear requirements.

Exploration Still Carries the Game

Even with all the new combat content, the reason most people keep playing No Man’s Sky is exploration. The procedural generation system means you will find planet types you have never seen before no matter how many hours you have logged. A planet covered entirely in geometric crystal formations. A world where the sky turns green at night and the grass is blood red. A ringed gas giant that you can fly around but not land on.The Swarm update adds new planet-side encounters tied to the hive faction, including crashed drone structures you can investigate for materials and lore fragments. These fit naturally into the exploration loop without requiring you to engage with the combat content at all if you do not want to.Underwater exploration got significant improvements in updates prior to Swarm and those changes are still in place. Underwater planets have their own fauna, their own resource types, and their own atmospheric conditions. Some of the most visually memorable locations in the game are now submerged.Freighters, which are large capital ships you can purchase and use as a mobile base, have also been updated. You can customize the interior rooms, assign crew to departments, and launch frigate fleets on automated missions that bring back resources while you explore. Freighter management is an entire gameplay system that some players spend most of their time in.

Is No Man’s Sky Worth Playing in 2025

The honest answer is yes, and not just for fans of the original release. The game that exists now is a deep, well-designed space exploration experience with more content than most games ship at full price. The Swarm update adds meaningful new content on top of an already substantial foundation.If you enjoy exploration, resource management, base building, or space combat, there is something here for you. If you enjoy community events and shared progression systems, the Hive Expedition specifically is worth your time right now while it is active.The game is also priced reasonably given the content volume. Hello Games has not charged for a single major update since launch. That track record is rare and it says something about how the studio approaches the long-term relationship with its player base.According to Hello Games, the studio has committed to continued free updates, and Steam reviews for the game currently sit at Very Positive with over 500,000 user reviews. The official No Man’s Sky site has full patch notes and expedition details updated in real time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the No Man’s Sky Swarm update?

The Swarm update is a free content update for No Man’s Sky that introduces giant hive ships into space, adds drone swarm combat encounters, and launches a new community expedition called the Hive Expedition. Players are divided into three groups that work together toward a shared community goal. The update is available on all platforms including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2.

How do you fight hive ships in No Man’s Sky?

Hive ships are surrounded by layers of attack drones that you need to clear before targeting the ship itself. Use a fast ship with upgraded weapons, particularly spread weapons like the Infra-Knife for drones and direct-fire weapons like the Rocket Launcher for the hive ship weak points. Keep moving to avoid drone targeting lock. Use your boost (L3 on controller) to break out of swarm clusters and recharge your shield with RB before re-engaging.

Is No Man’s Sky on Nintendo Switch 2?

Yes. No Man’s Sky received a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade with improved frame rates, better visual fidelity, and faster load times. The upgrade is free for existing Switch owners. The Swarm update is included in the Switch 2 version. Cross-save functionality lets you transfer progress from other platforms.

What is the best game mode for the Hive Expedition?

Normal Mode is the recommended starting point for the Hive Expedition. It gives you access to all expedition content without the punishing resource scarcity of Survival Mode. If you want less combat pressure, Relaxed Mode is a valid choice and does not lock you out of expedition rewards. Survival and Permadeath add significant difficulty to hive ship encounters but offer no extra expedition rewards.

Can you play the Swarm update solo?

Yes. All hive ship encounters and expedition missions can be completed in single player. The community aspect of the Hive Expedition refers to global player progress contributing to a shared bar, not to forced multiplayer sessions. You will never be put into a lobby or required to play alongside other players unless you choose to.

How do you change controller settings in No Man’s Sky on PC?

Open the pause menu, go to Options, then Controls. From there you can rebind every input for both keyboard and mouse and for controller. Steam Input also lets you customize controller layouts outside the game if you launch through Steam. No Man’s Sky has full controller support on PC and automatically detects Xbox and PlayStation controllers.

Do you need to start a new save for the Hive Expedition?

No. You can join the Hive Expedition from any existing save file by opening the Expedition menu and selecting it. The game creates a temporary expedition save that runs parallel to your main save. When the expedition ends, any rewards you earned transfer back to your main save file. You have the option to create a fresh save for the expedition if you prefer a clean start.

What resources do you need for hive ship encounters?

Before engaging a hive ship, make sure your ship launch thruster has fuel, your shields are topped up, and you have at least two backup hazard shielding items in case you crash land during combat. Di-hydrogen crystals for launch fuel and chromatic metal for shield recharges are the most important materials to carry. Storing a stack of antimatter housing and warp cells in your ship cargo ensures you can warp out of a system if a fight goes badly.

How long does the No Man’s Sky Hive Expedition last?

Hello Games typically runs expeditions for a fixed window of several weeks. Check the in-game Expedition tab or the official No Man’s Sky website for the current end date. Rewards are distributed based on milestones completed before the expedition closes. Most players can finish all milestones within 20 to 30 hours of active play, though the pacing allows for casual progress over the full duration.

Is No Man’s Sky cross platform?

No Man’s Sky supports cross-play between PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch 2. Players on different platforms can see each other in the Space Anomaly and on planets if multiplayer is enabled. Cross-save allows you to transfer your save file between platforms using a Hello Games account. The feature is optional and your saves remain private by default.

What is the best ship type for the Swarm update content?

Fighter ships have native bonuses to weapon damage and are the most effective class for hive ship encounters. Haulers have more inventory space but weaker combat stats. Explorers are fast with good hyperdrive range but average combat performance. If you are specifically planning to engage hive content, an S-class Fighter with weapon and shield upgrades is the strongest option. That said, a well-upgraded Hauler or Explorer will still perform adequately in Normal Mode.