Hello Games is on the verge of releasing another free update to its space sandbox No Man's Sky, but this time it's going to be the weirdest update yet. It's called the "Living Ships" update, and it introduces new biological ships to No Man's Sky. It certainly looks alive in the trailer above (voiced by the late Lutger Hauer), but in an even more interesting twist, players will not only be able to pilot this organic vessel, but will actually be able to hatch it from an egg and raise it to adulthood.

Hatching them from eggs, growing them from babies to adults, and flying around in them are not the only oddities to appear in the "living ship" update. As they explore the galaxy, new and strange "points of interest" begin to appear in the solar system.

And I do mean strange. Strange, pulsating energy orbs, interesting and intimidating space stations, and here we see this giant space skull and try to solve the mystery of what kind of aliens left it in orbit:

Can you build a base inside this thing? Players will definitely want to build a base in that thing. A skull base in space. How could astronauts not want it?" While exploring, you may encounter new space NPCs or vendors who will call your ship to trade with you, offer help, or engage in other (perhaps menacing) interactions.

The living ship also has new biological technology and an organic cockpit, so I hope you'll get into pulling strange tentacles and vines to maneuver your spaceship, the weirdness should be doubled in VR, and you'll be able to see the new NPCs and other spacecraft, and even see the new NPCs and other spacecraft that you'll be able to use to help you. The Origin Story mission will introduce you to the "Ancient Corvax Experiment" that created these living ships.

See below for some mouth-watering screenshots. The Living Ship update is coming this week and will also include many optimizations and bug fixes. Read more here.