The Hello Games team has been teasing No Man’s Sky’s 1.3 update patch since earlier this week. And today, it was released! On No Man’s Sky’s birthday, no less. The patch boasts over vehicles, improvements to in-game systems, and over thirty hours of new story content. The free update is great for anyone who already owns the game, like myself. It’s almost endearing to see that Hello Games is still working on it, even though the game’s release was a dumpster fire of bad PR.

Image via Steam Community.

For what it’s worth, it’s an attempt to salvage a great base game. Of course, the No Man’s Sky hype was so high that anything short of the complete redefinition of gaming as we know it would’ve disappointed many. This is due in part to Hello Games’ own marketing blunders. And equally in part to how hard we all bought into the hype. That analysis has already been done, and there’s a Reddit thread about it if you feel so inclined. For now though, update 1.3 is promising. If you’re holding off on playing it, then I’ll be back with some words about it.

If you’re interested in the full patch notes for No Man’s Sky’s Atlas Rises update, they can be found here.