No Man’s Sky comes to iPhone and iPad October 28—with limits worth checking.

What Hello Games has announced

Hello Games says No Man’s Sky will reach iPhone and iPad on October 28, with preorders already open and a free-to-try launch. The October 12 announcement describes a version incorporating more than forty major updates, including Cosmos and Voyagers.

The stated entry points are iPhone 11 and third-generation iPad Air or newer. The developer says the download is under 4GB, alongside redesigned touch controls and support for controllers; iPad also supports mouse and keyboard.

The small print changes the comparison

Multiplayer is not supported. Planetary Settlements are supported on iPhone 15 Pro and newer, making the supported-device list different from the list of devices with every listed feature.

For an existing player, that means comparing the activities you actually use before treating the mobile edition as a replacement for your current version. A compatible phone alone does not establish feature parity.

A checklist for the mobile edition

Our analysis: start with three separate questions—does the device run the game, does it support the activity you want, and do the controls suit that activity? An iPhone that meets the baseline may still lack Planetary Settlements. A player who mainly explores with friends should weigh the announced absence of multiplayer before equating the full universe with every feature of another edition.

The source states the Settlements threshold for iPhone but does not specify the corresponding iPad requirement. Check the final App Store compatibility and feature details for the exact tablet. The October 28, 2026 release date has no launch hour or timezone in the developer’s post, so this article does not convert it into a simultaneous worldwide unlock time.

Free to try describes the initial access model; the announcement does not establish the full unlock price or trial limits. Nor does it give a measured battery-life figure, sustained framerate or a promise of save transfer from an existing copy. Those are questions to verify at launch rather than benefits to assume from the portable format.