No Man’s Sky is the sort of game where the developers weren’t always forthcoming ahead of its release. Bits and pieces of information leaked, occasionally alluding to various elements. Multiplayer was one of them. While we were always told we’d be able to see planets and creatures named by other people, it was never referred to as a multiplayer experience. We were told we may never encounter another player, and Sony doesn’t even require PlayStation Plus for the online elements. Now, anecdotal evidence seems to suggest we can’t see other people playing.
This comes from an No Man’s Sky experience between players known as TheSadCactus and Psytokat. The two arranged to meet each other at the same space station and spot, after TheSadCactus discovered Psytokat’s star system and messaged him. Both streamed the event and attempted to meet, but found they couldn’t see each other, even when they were at the exact same space station. TheSadCactus later took to Reddit to chronicle the event and missed connection.
Hello Games has yet to comment on the encounter. There is a chance that this is a bug or server issue. However, not being able to actually see another player would explain why PlayStation Plus isn’t a requirement. We’ll have to wait and see what happens as more people spread throughout the galaxy and try to find each other.