We Predict What’s In The Middle Of The No Man’s Sky Universe

Several years after it was first announced, and after many delays, No Man’s Sky is finally coming next week. Players will be able to explore a massive universe – with more than 18 quintillion unique planets – discovering new creatures and places that other people will likely never see. While exploration and discovery are huge components of the game, there is a goal: upgrade your ship to carry you to the center of the game’s enormous map. What surprises are in store for you there? Well, it’s a surprise. That’s kind of the point. That doesn’t stop us from predicting what we’ll all be working toward, however.

What follows is a list of our predictions. Some editors took the assignment quite seriously, while others took it as an excuse to show their enthusiasm for living in clown town. Do you have an idea of what’s ahead? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Andy McNamara
A vault of gold that would make Scrooge McDuck green with envy, or Dane Cook.

Jeff Cork
Maybe that sign from The Lorax that says “Unless?” That would really make people think about everything they ruined/killed/consumed on their journey to get there. Either that or some kind of joke about sheep because English people think sheep are just the funniest things for some reason I will never understand.

Matt Kato
It's an expanding universe/big expansion thing/New Game Plus. You get there and the density of the center is so great it contracts the universe only to expand it again. Then you start over. 

Ben Reeves
My car keys. I lost them. I feel like I’ve looked everywhere, and I hope they turn up soon.

Andrew Reiner
An apple. Just an ordinary red apple. You sit and look at it for 20 seconds, wondering if anything will happen, and then the floating head of William Shatner swoops in and gobbles it up. Munch munch munch! Shatner then turns to the screen, winks, and his cheeks balloon to a comical size. His face turns red, and he barfs up the apple, violently. The apple chunks soar through the cosmos, some turning into stars, others into planets, and a few into the names of the development team. THE END

Brian Shea
Sean Murray.

Joe Juba
Uncovering a mystery at the center of the universe has the potential to be an enormous reward for players…but it could also be a huge a disappointment. Veering toward any sort of grand narrative reveal about The Secret Of Life could fall disastrously flat, since no plot twist could match the expectation for what a person would learn at the nexus of all creation. That’s why I’m hoping whatever awaits in the endgame of No Man’s Sky has more gameplay significance. Maybe it’s a teleporter that lets you traverse the universe instantly. Maybe it’s an ancient battleship. Maybe it’s a planet you can create and customize yourself. Whatever it is, I want it to be something players can use to enhance their continuing adventures. After all, if you keep going through the center of the universe, you emerge on the other side with an equally long journey ahead.

Javy Gwaltney
I think it's pretty obvious what's going to be at the center of universe in No Man's Sky, y'all. It's Zardoz! The giant floating stone head and best bud of Sean Connery from the classic 1974 camp masterpiece. The player who reaches Zardoz first will be given a cute little bobblehead to put on their ship dashboard as well as a replica of the infamous red nappy costume that the player can wear as they trounce around the galaxy.

Matt Miller
No Man’s Sky is all about exploring the vastness of a varied and unusual universe, and I’d bet the ending continues to play into that theme. At the center of the universe, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a gate or opening to yet another galaxy to investigate.

Kyle Hilliard
Since No Man’s Sky is all procedurally generated, obviously Hello Games doesn’t actually have to do any work on the game’s universe. But those guys over there are obviously doing something, and I think I know what it is, and I’m pretty sure it’s at the center of No Man’s Sky universe. After hours and hours and hours of play, the thing you will find in the center will be the third entry in the critically acclaimed Joe Danger franchise. Hello Game’s built its house with Joe Danger’s crazy motorcycle antics, so what better way to honor him than to make the third game in the series the center of the universe. I am guessing it will probably be sci-fi themed.

Dan Tack

• The Pokémon Go tracking system
• StarCraft Ghost
• 42
• A duck that’s absolutely QUACKERS

Elise Favis
At the center of the universe, there exists a wormhole that takes you right back to where you started. So, you just do the whole journey over and over without any real meaning.

Matt Bertz

Suriel Vazquez
At the center of the No Man's Sky universe are the friends we made along the way (so no one).

Mike Futter
I could be funny and suggest that it’s a tiny Peter Molyneux in a stark white room, but I won’t do that. My hope is that there will be a mystery throughout the universe to solve that is only made clear by the community coming together to share clues. The crucial piece of that would be at the center. One thing seems clear though: whatever exists there is going to have a hard time matching the hype the No Man’s Sky community has built up around it.