It’s fitting, then, that the game’s latest update is titled Living Ship. While previous releases have pushed the game’s boundaries both creatively and mechanically, leaving the game a better product today than it ever was, the newest free “DLC” dips into the imagination. 

According to a release from Hello Games, Living Ship introduces, well, living ships. Players will be able to grow creatures from birth to adulthood, and then use them as vessels to further explore the game’s procedurally generated universe. 

The update also includes new and unique fauna, as well as objects floating in the void of space “between planets.” 

These beautiful, organic, slightly psychedelic ships are uniquely grown (and as with everything in the No Man’s Sky universe, procedurally-generated). They can’t be upgraded in the same way as a traditional ship: each one is individually hatched, with a unique set of internal organs that determines its abilities. If you want a fast hyperdrive, you’ll need to nurture the right sort of life within your ship…

In the past, No Man’s Sky has often seen large, protracted updates. Beyond was one of the biggest, which completely retooled the game. Moving forward, Hello Games says it will focus more on smaller updates alongside bigger endeavors, primarily so that players don’t get too antsy. 

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more on No Man’s Sky as it continues its journey through the cosmos.