[UPDATE: It appears Murray might have changed his opinion (slightly) on paid DLC for No Man's Sky.]

With gamers now finally being able to experience the long-awaited release of Hello Games' No Man's Sky and the contents of its sizable day one patch on PlayStation 4, some fans may be wondering what horizons lie ahead for the game. Thankfully, Hello Games founder Sean Murray recently held an interview with Red Bull to talk about the title's launch, where exactly the developer is setting its course next, and what players can expect from No Man's Sky moving forward.

According to Murray, No Man's Sky fans ought to anticipate plenty of free updates in the coming weeks, months, and beyond, with each of the patches intending to include a bevy of fresh content and new features. With this being the case, Hello Games aims to keep fans who purchased a legitimate copy of title flush with materials without them having to worry about eventually needing to spend additional money on DLC.

"We do want to add a ton of features, like we've just discussed: Freighters, bases, these type of things. But we want to do it for free. You've paid for the game, so you should get this stuff without paying even more money. So no, there will be no paid DLC, just patches."

Bearing in mind Hello Games' complimentary DLC philosophy for No Man's Sky, one might remember the familiar post-launch strategy of the developers at CD Projekt Red, who put out 16 separate packages of free DLC for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As lots of gamers may recall, the strategy for the Poland-based studio was extremely successful, for not only did it expand the shelf life of its action-RPG well after its release, but also it served as a show of gratitude to fans and enticed other gamers to pick up the title.

Aside from Murray's aforementioned inclusion of freighters and bases for No Man's Sky's future free DLC, there's no telling as to what else Hello Games has in mind for the cosmic exploration and survival title. However, the developer did tease the possibility of adding "space whales" in one of the many upcoming updates, as they have apparently become "synonymous" with the release.

At any rate, while there are surely plenty of fans currently enjoying No Man's Sky on PlayStation 4, it remains to be seen as to whether or not the game will go on to become a success, even though it's been one of the most talked-about titles in recent memory. Of course, once No Man's Sky reaches its PC release date on August 12, there should be even more gamers giving it a go and boosting the developer's bottom line. With any luck, the prospect of free and meaty updates will help drive sales even higher to fund Hello Games' plans to support the release for as long as it can, and give players the chance to continue doling out strange planet names for the foreseeable future.

No Man's Sky is out now for PlayStation 4, and is set to release on August 12, 2016 for PC.

Source: Red Bull (via GamesRadar)