Can I Run No Man's Sky on My PC / Laptop?

An Intel Core i3 processor, a Nvidia GTX 1060 3GB, AMD RX 470 4GB, or Intel UHD 630 graphics card, and 8GB of RAM, aimed at 1080p on low settings around 30 fps. Full details are in the table above.

Valve doesn't publish an official recommended tier for this game, only a minimum one. Based on real-world performance, a GTX 1660 6GB or RX 580 8GB paired with a Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 1600 and 16GB of RAM gets you a stable 1080p experience on high settings outside crowded bases and stations.

You're at the official minimum with 8GB, and the game does launch and run, but things get crowded fast once Windows, background apps, and the memory No Man's Sky itself needs for building large planets are all competing for the same pool. 16GB gives you real breathing room, particularly around bigger bases.

Yes, comfortably. There's no official tier asking for more than that, and 16GB covers normal play, large bases, and multiplayer without the memory pressure an 8GB system can run into.

Steam's listing still says 15GB, but that number is outdated. Years of free updates have pushed the real install closer to 27GB, and it keeps growing with each new update, so plan for 30GB or more of free space rather than trusting the store page figure.

It's not a hard requirement the way it is in some newer games, since No Man's Sky launched in an era before SSDs were assumed. That said, an SSD noticeably shortens load times when jumping between planets, warping systems, or loading into a busy base, so it's worth it if you have the option.

It's not a heavy VRAM game by current standards. 4GB is workable at 1080p on medium to high settings, and 6 to 8GB covers 1080p and 1440p at ultra with room to spare. VRAM becomes more relevant at 4K or with a lot of texture-heavy mods installed.

Yes. No Man's Sky added upscaling support for both Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR after launch, on top of its native TAA option, so you can trade a bit of image sharpness for extra frame rate if your card needs the help.

No. The game's lighting and reflections are handled through its own rendering techniques rather than a ray-traced mode, so ray tracing hardware isn't a factor in how well this game runs for you.

No, it runs on DirectX 11, and that hasn't changed since launch. You don't need a DirectX 12 capable card specifically for this game.

Windows 10 or 11, both 64-bit. Older 32-bit Windows installs aren't supported.

Both, depending on where you are. Open planet exploration and space flight lean more on the GPU, like most games. Dense player bases, freighter interiors, and multiplayer hubs like the Space Anomaly lean much harder on the CPU, since the game has to track and render every object and every nearby player, which is why a strong GPU alone doesn't fix frame drops in those spots.

Almost always it's location, not hardware. Crowded bases, busy freighter interiors, and multiplayer hotspots put far more load on the engine than an empty planet does, and that load hits the CPU as much as the GPU. If you see solid frame rates everywhere except those specific scenarios, your PC is working as expected.

No. The full single-player game is playable offline once it's installed and activated. You only need a connection for multiplayer features, the Nexus mission hub, and community events.

If your hardware is below the official minimum, GTX 1060 3GB or RX 470 4GB class or an Intel Core i3, an upgrade is close to necessary. If you already clear that but want stable high settings and fewer dips in bases and multiplayer, moving up to something like a GTX 1660 or RTX 3060 with 16GB of RAM makes a real, noticeable difference over the bare minimum.

The RTX 3050 is a strong fit for No Man's Sky. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works. About 65 fps at 1080p high, similar territory to a GTX 1660 Super.

Underpowered here. The GTX 1650 sits below No Man's Sky's minimum, so expect the lowest settings and a frame rate to match. Roughly 45 fps at 1080p on medium settings, with dips near crowded bases.

Yes, on modest settings. The GTX 1060 6GB meets what No Man's Sky needs at minimum, so 1080p low to medium is the sweet spot. Around 58 fps at 1080p high, a solid step above the minimum-listed 3GB card.

Underpowered here. The RX 580 sits below No Man's Sky's minimum, so expect the lowest settings and a frame rate to match. About 55 fps at 1080p on high settings, close to the unofficial recommended target.

Yes, with room to spare. No Man's Sky recommends less than the RTX 4060 offers, so expect smooth 1080p high and a playable 1440p. About 105 fps at 1080p ultra and 78 fps at 1440p.

Plenty of power here. The RTX 3060 is above No Man's Sky's recommended tier, so high 1080p is smooth and 1440p is a fair target. Roughly 92 fps at 1080p ultra and 64 fps at 1440p.

The RTX 2060 is a strong fit for No Man's Sky. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works. About 78 fps at 1080p ultra in normal exploration.

That is more than enough. The GTX 1660 clears No Man's Sky's recommended requirement, so aim for high at 1080p or step up to 1440p.

Yes, comfortably. The GTX 1660 Super sits at or above No Man's Sky's recommended card, so 1080p on high is smooth and 1440p is well within reach. Roughly 70 fps at 1080p on high to ultra settings.

You are well set. The RX 6600 exceeds No Man's Sky's recommended card, so 1080p high is easy and 1440p is realistic. Around 80 fps at 1080p ultra, a comfortable margin above the recommended target.

Yes, comfortably. The GTX 1660 Ti sits at or above No Man's Sky's recommended card, so 1080p on high is smooth and 1440p is well within reach.

You are well set. The RTX 3060 Ti exceeds No Man's Sky's recommended card, so 1080p high is easy and 1440p is realistic. Around 115 fps at 1080p ultra, a solid 1440p ultra card as well.

Plenty of power here. The RTX 4050 is above No Man's Sky's recommended tier, so high 1080p is smooth and 1440p is a fair target.

That card falls short. The GTX 1050 Ti is under No Man's Sky's minimum, which leaves you very low settings and a shaky frame rate. Around 35 fps at 1080p on low to medium settings, workable but tight in busier areas.

No trouble at all. The RTX 4070 meets or beats what No Man's Sky recommends, so 1080p high runs well and 1440p is realistic. Roughly 135 fps at 1080p, 100 fps at 1440p, and around 58 fps at native 4K.

Yes. Hello Games shipped a native macOS version in June 2023, built for Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) as well as supported Intel Macs, so you don't need Boot Camp or a cloud service. Performance on an M-series MacBook is generally solid for exploration, with the same kind of frame drops in dense bases and multiplayer hubs that PC players see.

Yes, at least at a basic level. Intel UHD 630 is actually listed as one of the official minimum-tier graphics options, which is unusual for a game this visually ambitious. Expect low settings, lower resolution, and real frame rate drops in bases or crowded areas, but the game will launch and run on many integrated chips.

No, the hardware inside a Chromebook just isn't built for a game like this. GeForce Now is the practical workaround, streaming it from a remote machine as long as No Man's Sky is available in your cloud provider's library.

Yes, and it runs well. No Man's Sky carries Valve's Steam Deck Verified rating, meaning it's confirmed to work fully with the Deck's controls and screen without extra tinkering. Expect to run at lower settings for a stable 30 to 40 fps, with the usual dips in busy bases and stations. The ROG Ally and Legion Go, being more powerful, handle it at least as well with similar settings.

You'll want something in the RTX 4070 to RTX 4090 range for a good native 4K experience, and even flagship cards can dip into the 50s and 60s in demanding scenes rather than holding rock steady triple digits. Upscaling through DLSS or FSR helps a lot if you're on a card a tier below that.

An RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT class card gives you a comfortable 1440p ultra experience in normal exploration, generally in the 60 to 100 fps range depending on the scene, with the expected drops in crowded bases or stations.

A GTX 1660 or RX 580 class card holds 60 fps at 1080p on high settings outside busy areas, which is close to this page's unofficial recommended target. For a steadier 60 fps that survives crowded bases and multiplayer hubs, an RTX 3060 or better gives you more headroom.

An RTX 2060 or better handles 1080p ultra comfortably, and an RTX 3060 Ti or stronger is a good match for 1440p ultra. Ultra settings today are noticeably heavier than they were at launch in 2016, since years of visual updates have raised what the top setting actually renders.

Yes, No Man's Sky is available on GeForce Now, letting you stream it on hardware that couldn't otherwise run it well, including many laptops and Chromebooks, as long as you own the game on a supported storefront.

VR mode is meaningfully more demanding than flat-screen play, since comfortable VR needs a high, stable frame rate, generally 90 fps or better, to avoid motion sickness. An RTX 2070 Super or RX 6700 XT paired with a strong six-core or eight-core CPU and 16GB of RAM is a realistic target, and it works with headsets like the Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Quest headsets connected through Link.

Yes, both, and it runs well on Series X with enhanced resolution and frame rate. Series S targets a lower resolution to hit similar performance, but both consoles get the same content and cross-play with everyone else.

Yes, it's still supported on the original Xbox One and Xbox One X, though naturally at lower settings and resolution than Series X or S.

Yes, No Man's Sky launched on PS4 and remains fully playable there, including PS4 Pro, with cross-play against PC, Xbox, and PS5 players.

Yes, with better resolution and frame rate than PS4, plus support for the DualSense controller's haptic feedback. It's a free upgrade if you already own the PS4 version.

Yes. No Man's Sky supports PSVR2 on PS5 in addition to PC VR headsets, giving console players the same full VR mode that PC players get, including PSVR2's eye tracking and haptic features.

Yes, a native Switch version released in October 2022. It's noticeably scaled down from PC or PS5, with a lower and dynamic resolution and simplified visual effects to keep it running on Switch hardware, and it targets a steady frame rate over a high one.

Yes. An enhanced Switch 2 Edition arrived alongside the console's launch window in 2025, with a real jump in resolution and stability over the original Switch version, closer to what handheld PC and Steam Deck players get.

At the bare minimum, Intel UHD 630 integrated graphics or a GTX 1060 3GB, an Intel Core i3, and 8GB of RAM, you can launch the game at 1080p on low settings around 30 fps in open areas. Crowded bases and multiplayer hubs will hit that kind of hardware harder than anything else in the game.

An Intel Core i3 is literally the official minimum CPU, so yes, it'll run the game, mostly fine in open exploration since that side leans more on the GPU. Where a budget quad-core CPU struggles is dense player bases and busy multiplayer hubs, since those scenarios put real load on the processor regardless of your graphics card.

Hardware below the official minimum, an out-of-date graphics driver, or running out of free storage because the real install is bigger than Steam's outdated 15GB listing suggests, those are the usual suspects. If the stutter only shows up in specific spots like large bases or the Space Anomaly, that's expected engine behavior rather than a sign something's wrong with your PC, since those scenes are simply heavier to render.

Yes, across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Switch 2, so you can play and build with friends regardless of platform. The one notable gap is the original Nintendo Switch version, which due to its scaled-down build doesn't fully cross-play with the other platforms the way they do with each other.

No. The single-player game doesn't require an online subscription on either platform. You only need one if you're using general online multiplayer features tied to your console maker's own service, separate from anything specific to No Man's Sky.

Unofficially, through Proton, and it works well, which makes sense given how solid the Steam Deck experience is on similar AMD-based hardware. Most reports describe it as close to a native experience, though as with any Proton title, checking recent compatibility reports before buying is a reasonable extra step.