If you’ve booted up No Man’s Sky for the first time after the 2026 Frontiers of the Void update, you’re probably staring at the endless galaxy map wondering exactly how long this ride will take. The question of how long to beat No Man’s Sky doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer, because Hello Games has added so much free content over the years that you can spend 20 hours or 2000 hours on the game depending on what you want to do. I’ve put over 800 hours into the game across three different saves, so I’m breaking down playtimes for every common playstyle, plus factors that can make your run shorter or longer.
How Long to Beat No Man’s Sky Main Story Only (2026 Update)
If you stick strictly to the core quest line and ignore side distractions, you can wrap up the main story arc in a reasonable amount of time. Most casual players who follow the Artemis and Atlas Path quests without detours finish in 30 to 40 hours, including the new 3-hour Void Epilogue added in the 2026 update. That time will bump up to 45 to 50 hours if you stop occasionally to mine extra resources, upgrade your multi-tool, or scan a handful of interesting creatures along the way.
You don’t need to complete any side content to beat the main story, but you will want to spend a couple of hours upgrading your ship’s warp drive and multi-tool damage output at key points. The final boss fight added in 2026 is significantly tougher than previous endgame content, so underprepared players might get stuck repeating the fight for an hour or more if they skip upgrades. If you’re rushing to finish the story before the next update drops, you can skip all base building, faction missions, and random exploration entirely without hitting a wall.
Playtime for 100% Completion and Full Exploration
For players who want to unlock every milestone, collect every rare item, and catalogue as much of the galaxy as possible, playtimes stretch far beyond the main story run. Most completionists can wrap up a full 100% run in 300 to 500 hours, though some dedicated players spend over 1000 hours if they aim to catalogue every planet and creature in an entire region of the galaxy. The 2026 update added 12 new milestones, 4 new alien factions, and 2 new exotic ship classes, so full completion times are roughly 15% longer than they were in previous years.
Even if you're not focused on how long to beat No Man's Sky, the 100% completion path is a fun challenge for long-time fans. Some of the most time-consuming tasks you’ll face include:
I started a 100% run last spring and gave up around the 350 hour mark when I realized I still had 28 unique fauna left to scan on a toxic ice planet that kept damaging my life support. If you’re going for full completion, set realistic expectations that this will be a months-long project, not a weekend playthrough.
How Multiplayer and Modded Runs Change Playtime
Playing with friends or using mods can shift your playtime drastically, for better or for worse. If you’re playing co-op with 2 to 3 friends and focusing on the main story, you can split tasks to cut your playtime down significantly. Teams that split mining, quest navigation, and combat duties can finish the main story in as little as 20 to 25 hours, since you won’t have to stop as often to grind for resources. That said, if you’re just messing around with friends doing base raids, pirate hunts, and random exploration, you can easily add hundreds of hours to your playthrough with no end goal in sight.
If you’re curious about how long to beat No Man's Sky with mods, the answer varies wildly depending on what mods you install. Quality of life mods that speed up mining, reduce warp times, or mark quest locations on your map can cut main story playtime by 30% or more. If you use large content expansion mods, like the popular 2026 Galaxy Expansion Mod that adds 10 new independent story arcs, you can add another 100+ hours of unique content to your run. Just note that modded runs don’t count for official in-game milestone unlocks, so skip mods if you care about earning exclusive profile badges.
Tips to Shorten Your Playthrough (Without Ruining the Fun)
If you want to hit a specific playtime goal but don’t want to miss all the best parts of the game, there are a few simple tweaks you can make to cut down on wasted time. First, Prioritize quest-specific upgrades only when you’re playing through the main story. You don’t need a top-tier freighter, a massive base, or 10 different multi-tools to beat the main arc, so skip those side tasks until after you finish the core quest line.
Second, Use community waypoints to skip long travel times. The 2026 update added a shared public waypoint system, so you can warp directly to quest locations that other players have already uploaded, cutting out hours of jumping between star systems. Third, Don't get sidetracked by random events unless they’re directly related to your current quest. Distress signals, pirate attacks, and uncharted planets are fun, but they can add 10+ hours to your run if you stop for every single one you see.
These tips are completely optional, of course. Half the fun of No Man’s Sky is getting lost and finding weird, wonderful planets you never would have looked for otherwise. Only use these shortcuts if you have a specific goal, like finishing the story before your friend group starts a new co-op save next month.
At the end of the day, the question of how long to beat No Man's Sky is entirely up to you. You can blast through the main story in 30 hours, spend hundreds of hours exploring every corner of the galaxy, or just hop on once a week to build bases with friends with no end goal at all. The 2026 update has made the game more flexible than ever, so you can tailor your playthrough to fit exactly how much time you want to spend. No matter what playstyle you pick, you're in for a fun ride through one of the most expansive open world games ever made.
