Space can be a lonely place in No Man’s Sky, but it doesn’t need to be if you have a little pet friend helping you out on your journey. That’s what the sizable Companions update is all about, adding a whole host of pet-centric features to the interstellar sandbox.
At the base level, the Companions update brings new depth to pets beyond simply feeding a wild creature to have it follow you around for a bit. All creatures can now be milked by simply feeding them, creatures normal and giant can be ridden like mounts, and up to six creatures can be adopted to travel with players wherever they go, even on the Anomaly.
Each companion has a distinct personality that governs its behavior, while the harness that companions wear informs players of their pet’s thoughts and desires. Pets will need some occasional upkeep in the form of food or attention and can either perform tasks on their own initiative or be ordered around. Pets will need to be cared for over a long period of time to build trust, but once a companion is suitably trusting, it will lay eggs that can either be hatched into new creatures and raised from infancy to adulthood, traded to other players, or adjusted at the Gene Sequencer at the Space Anomaly to create never-before-seen creatures.
In addition to all of these pet-related features, the Companions update brings some quick keys for keyboard and mouse users to select dialogue options, improved loading times for the PS4, and a host of bug fixes. The full patch notes are on the landing page, while a trailer for the update and a gallery of images are just below.
