No Man’s Sky Free Switch Trial: Everything You Need to Know

What the free trial includes

This is the full game, rather than a short demo or a separate trial build. Nintendo Switch Online Game Trials are described as providing the complete game, with online features enabled and no stated limit on playtime during the trial period.

That means the most useful approach is to start downloading before the event begins, then use the week to decide whether No Man’s Sky’s exploration, survival, building and multiplayer systems are right for you. The game will not remain permanently accessible when the trial ends unless you purchase it.

Switch and Switch 2 support

The Game Trial is available on the original Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo of Europe also confirms that owners of the Switch version can download the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade for free.

The practical takeaway is that Switch 2 owners do not need to buy a separate copy solely to access the upgraded edition after purchasing the game. Because entitlements can vary by storefront, check the wording shown in your regional eShop before completing a purchase.

Does progress carry over after the trial?

Yes. Reporting on the promotion says save data transfers to the full version if you buy No Man’s Sky after trying it.

Nintendo says compatible save data is linked to a Nintendo Account and can be accessed on a Switch or Switch 2 console after signing in and downloading it. To reduce the chance of confusion, use the same Nintendo Account for the trial and the eventual purchase, and confirm that your save has synchronized before switching consoles.

How much does access cost?

The Game Trial itself is free, but an active Nintendo Switch Online membership is required. Nintendo describes Game Trials as a benefit for members of the service.

The commonly cited £3.49/$3.99 figures refer to a one-month individual Nintendo Switch Online membership in the relevant storefront, not an extra charge for No Man’s Sky. Membership prices and available plans vary by country, so the local eShop is the right place to confirm the amount for your account.

How the trial connects to No Man’s Sky’s 10th anniversary

The promotion arrives as Hello Games celebrates a decade of No Man’s Sky. The studio has marked the anniversary with retrospective material and a teaser for Cosmos, described as the game’s next major update.

The available reporting does not yet provide a full feature list or release date for Cosmos. Other coverage describes it as a free update, consistent with Hello Games’ established update model, but the studio has not supplied enough detail in the cited material to explain what the update will contain.

Hello Games has also said that work continues on Light No Fire, its next game. The studio previously explained that technology introduced in the Voyagers update is shared with Light No Fire, including systems connected to travel across a large shared planet and large boats requiring crews.

Reports describe Voyagers and the broader recent response to No Man’s Sky as record-setting, but the exact player metric is not clearly established in the available reporting. The safest conclusion is that Hello Games says it has recently reached its highest player numbers since launch, without treating that as a precisely defined concurrent-player record across all platforms.

Will Cosmos be revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live?

A full Cosmos presentation at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25 is possible, but it is not confirmed by the supplied reporting. The anniversary teaser says more information is coming, yet no cited announcement names the event as the place for the reveal. Until Hello Games, Gamescom or the official show program confirms it, the Gamescom connection should be treated as speculation—not a scheduled announcement.

For now, the Switch trial is the concrete anniversary offer: eligible European Nintendo Switch Online members get a week with the complete game, access on either Switch generation and a route to carry their progress into a purchase.