Portals are expected to be the central feature of No Man’s Sky update 1.4 , but we have no idea how they work. Since we’ll probably have to wait until August to find out, we’ve come up with a few theories of our own. Here are four ways portals might change the game once they’re turned on.
1) Teleport To Bases And Key Planets: When you think of portals in any other gaming context, they’re generally a method of quickly traveling from one place to another. In No Man’s Sky’s universe of 18 quintillion planet-sized planets, anything that increases movement speed is a good thing. Maybe players can mark important planets with a portal and then use that portal to travel back to a base or ship. It’s definitely not the sexiest use of a new feature, but it will make traversal a lot easier.
2) Locate Hidden Treasures: Portals might also be a pathway to access some of the game’s best and most powerful content. Maybe rare resources, ships or gear will be locked behind these special doors. As it stands right now, the Waking Titan ARG is very much focused around the level 4 Atlas Pass . Perhaps those high-level credentials offer access to things that make dedicated players experience No Man’s Sky in new ways. Especially now that the ship system has some light nuance, there’s a lot to be done there.
3) A Portal To The Past: Out of all the theories we’ve presented, this one is the deepest in the lore and potentially the most interesting. Not only is time travel a central theme of the Waking Titan ARG, but it’s also been touched on in the Abandoned Building narrative buried in No Man’s Sky . For those who don’t know the tale, the Traveler follows the call of a familiar voice only to find that it's his own chatter from a different continuity.
As for how bending time could impact No Man’s Sky players, the possibilities are endless. Being able to look at planets during different eras means environments and inhabitants could change with each pass through a portal. It’d be a way to change day-night cycles, as well as collect new resources and meet new races. Time manipulation would essentially refresh everything in the No Man’s Sky universe while also tying into to existing lore.
4) Multiplayer...Maybe?: All this talk about multiple voices in Abandoned Buildings and Waking Titan seems more like a reference to the Atlas and time manipulation than anything else, but it’s possible NMS community theorists have it wrong. Maybe the voices we’re hearing are those of multiple players in the universe, or perhaps other players we encounter online are essentially us from other continuities. Portals could be the gateway through which those modes are accessed.
With that in mind, maybe we’ll finally get the multiplayer space battles and exploration so many fans always wanted. The options are limitless here, too. We’re not sure No Man’s Sky was originally built to support the idea, but with such an extensive ARG in place, Hello Games could be hyping up something that big.
No Man’s Sky is available now on PS4 and PC.
How do you think portals and update 1.4 will change No Man’s Sky? Are any of these theories correct? Tell us in the comments section!
