I’ve put 300+ hours into NMS since the early 2026 Voyager update dropped, so I’ve tested every playstyle from speedruns to lazy, no-pressure exploration runs. A question I see pop up every week in community groups is from new or returning players trying to plan their gaming time. If you’re asking how long does it take to beat No Man’s Sky, the answer changes a lot based on how you prefer to play, what content you care about, and how much you want to grind for extra upgrades or collectibles.
How Long Does It Take to Beat No Man’s Sky Main Story in 2026?
The 2026 build of NMS includes three fully fleshed-out main story arcs: the Artemis Path, the Atlas Path, and the new Voyager storyline added earlier this year. If you stick strictly to main quest markers, skip all side activities, and don’t stop to explore random planets you pass, the full main story run takes 18 to 22 hours for most players. If you skip all optional dialogue and fast travel whenever possible, you can cut this down to 15 hours flat, but you’ll miss a lot of the emotional beats that make the NMS story so memorable for long-time fans.
That number goes up quickly if you stop to do even small side activities, like grabbing a better multi-tool from a space station or helping a stranded alien fix their ship. Most first-time players take 30 to 40 hours to finish the main story, because they get distracted by cool biomes or unexpected encounters as they jump between star systems. I did my first playthrough earlier this year and took 38 hours, and I don’t regret a single minute I spent wandering the glowing mushroom forests I stumbled on halfway through the Artemis arc.
Playtime for Full 100% Completion in the 2026 NMS Build
If you’re the type of player who wants to unlock every achievement, collect every upgrade, and see every piece of content the game has to offer, you’re looking at a much longer playtime. Most experienced completionists take 250 to 350 hours to hit 100% completion in the 2026 NMS build, and players who take their time to enjoy the process can easily hit 500+ hours before they check every box.
To hit 100% completion in 2026, you’ll need to cross all of the following off your list:
You can cut down on a lot of the resource grind required for 100% completion by using community-built resource farms that are shared freely by other players. If you’re looking for updated 2026 resource farm locations, you can find curated, community-voted spots on the official No Man’s Sky community hub to skip hours of grinding for rare materials like activated indium or runaway mold. Just don’t be surprised if you end up spending extra hours testing out other players’ custom bases while you’re browsing.
Casual Playthrough Length for Players Who Love Exploration
Most people don’t play NMS just to beat the story as fast as possible, and that’s exactly what makes the game so special. If you’re the type of player who likes to stop and build bases, hunt for rare S-class ships, play multiplayer with friends, or just wander random planets to see what you can find, your playtime will vary a lot. Most casual players take 80 to 120 hours to finish the main story while still enjoying all the fun side content, and many never even bother “beating” the game at all because they’re having too much fun exploring.
I have a friend who only plays 2 hours a week, and she’s been playing since the 2026 Voyager update dropped and still hasn’t finished the Artemis path. She spends most of her playtime building a floating base on a water world and raising alien pets, and that’s a completely valid way to play. The 2026 Voyager update added 15+ hours of new side content, including space whale hunting and alien settlement management, so casual players have even more to dig into now if they don’t care about rushing the main story.
Playing multiplayer will also almost always make your playthrough longer, because you’ll get distracted doing silly things like racing exocrafts across toxic planets or raiding pirate freighters with your friends instead of following quest markers. That’s not a bad thing at all, in my opinion some of the best NMS moments are the unplanned ones that have nothing to do with the main story.
Tips to Cut Down Unnecessary Grind Without Missing Content
If you want to beat the main story or hit 100% completion without spending hundreds of hours on unnecessary grind, there are a few easy tricks you can use that don’t take away from the fun of the game. First, prioritize story-related tech upgrades first, especially hyperdrive range boosts, so you don’t have to make 10 separate jumps to get to a story destination every time you get a new quest marker. Turn off survival mode if you just want to experience the story without having to constantly refill your life support or hazard protection, it doesn’t disable any story content, and you can switch it back on any time if you want more of a challenge.
You can also join casual NMS community groups to get free rare resources or upgraded ships from veteran players. A lot of long-time players have hundreds of stacks of rare materials they don’t need, and most are happy to give them away to new players to save them hours of grinding. You don’t have to take handouts if you don’t want to, but there’s no shame in using them if you just want to get through a tedious part of the grind faster.
That said, don’t rush too much. Some of the best parts of NMS are the unplanned encounters, like stumbling on a planet with floating mountains or a rare S-class exotic ship parked at a random space station. It’s okay to take detours even if you’re trying to beat the game quickly, you’ll have a much better experience if you give yourself permission to stop and enjoy the little things every once in a while.
At the end of the day, how long does it take to beat No Man’s Sky depends entirely on what you want to get out of the game. If you’re here for a tight, story-driven experience, you can wrap it up in under 25 hours. If you want to see everything the 2026 build has to offer, you could sink hundreds of hours into it and still find new things to explore every time you log on. Don’t let playtime numbers stress you out; the best part of NMS is that you can play it at your own pace, no pressure to “finish” it if you’re having fun just wandering the galaxy.
