A Year of Relics, Voids, and Corvettes
If you felt like your Steam downloads queue was constantly active for NMS this year, you weren't wrong. 2025 delivered a staggering amount of content, pushing the procedural generation and gameplay loops further than before. We saw Worlds Part II kick off the year, followed by the fossil-hunting mechanics in Relics, the mysterious Beacon update, the ninth-anniversary celebration in Voyagers (which finally added Corvette-class starships), and the spooky Breach update for Halloween.
This aggressive update cadence is the primary driver behind the resurgence. It’s not just about fixing bugs anymore; it’s about adding entirely new ways to play, whether you’re an archeologist digging for unique exhibits or a fleet commander organizing new Corvette formations. The result? A player count peak that rivals the game's initial launch window.
How can you revisit missed content?
If you missed out on the specific rewards from this year's expeditions, you're in luck. As is tradition, Hello Games has activated the Holiday Redux expeditions right now. These are compressed versions of the year's community events, allowing you to speedrun through the milestones to unlock exclusive gear, ships, and cosmetics that would otherwise be unobtainable. It's the perfect time to jump back in if you took a break during the summer.
The Push for 'Labor of Love'
With the Steam Awards approaching, Hello Games is explicitly asking the community to nominate the game for the "Labor of Love" category. Given the sheer volume of free content dropped in 2025 alone—while the team simultaneously works on their next massive open-world project, Light No Fire—it’s a hard argument to counter. Few games sustain this level of development nearly a decade into their lifecycle without charging for expansions.
Whether you're currently grinding the Redux expeditions or waiting for news on Light No Fire, 2025 has undeniably been a banner year for the infinite universe.