Update: Because of the delay in bringing multiplayer support to No Man's Sky on GOG, it is offering an extended refund policy on the game. Until 3 pm PT/6 pm ET on July 29, NMS owners can request a refund regardless of when they purchased the game.
Original story:
Owners of the DRM-free version of No Man's Sky, which is only available on GOG.com, will not have access to the game's new multiplayer features until later this year. That's according to a joint statement made by GOG and Hello Games on the GOG forums, where the news was released roughly three hours ago.
"From launch, the DRM-free edition of No Man's Sky will include all single-player content introduced by NEXT: third-person mode, upgraded visuals, better base building, player customization, and more," the statement reads.
"However the multiplayer component will not be ready at launch; we expect it to be released later this year as full multiplayer parity remains in the pipeline."
The post goes on to explain the delay, pointing to the complexity of adding the functionality across a variety of platforms at once. The Next update has rolled out across Steam and PS4, this week as well as launching with the newly released Xbox One version.
"For a small, independent studio, developing the feature across multiple platforms is a hugely ambitious and technical challenge which resulted in this delayed release," the statement reads. "Hello Games is however joining forces with GOG.COM to introduce full multiplayer via the GOG Galaxy platform. We appreciate your immense support and patience."
No Man's Sky Next went live earlier today, and Chris has already experimented with the game's frankly weird player customization feature. Expect to hear more from him on the update shortly.