New Delhi, Oct. 13 -- Players will soon be able to explore No Man's Sky's planets from an iPhone or iPad without buying a new console, but they will not be able to bring friends along through multiplayer. Hello Games has announced an October 28 mobile release, pairing a free opening section with a paid unlock for the full game and hardware-dependent access to planetary settlements.

Studio co-founder Sean Murray announced the port on October 12 in Hello Games' development update. Pre-orders are open as part of Apple's App Store Indie Games Week. Murray described the release as the full universe rather than a smaller mobile adaptation, with more than 40 major updates included.

There is already a date discrepancy worth flagging. The develo...