Part of the Creatures & Companions series:

Quick Answer

  • Xeno Arena is update 6.30, released 8 April 2026, free like every other No Man's Sky update.
  • It adds turn-based tactical battles fought with creatures you have already tamed and registered in your companion index.
  • Battles happen at Holo-Arenas, found in space stations and in the Nexus aboard the Space Anomaly.
  • You can fight NPC opponents or other players.
  • Creatures carry elemental affinities drawn from their species and home world, and there are hundreds of new companion abilities.
  • The companion cap went from 18 to 30, so you can keep a real roster instead of a favourites shortlist.

Overview

Companions used to be decorative. You tamed a creature, fed it, maybe bred it, and then it followed you around while you mined. Xeno Arena gives that collection a use. Every registered companion is now a potential combatant with its own affinity and ability set, and the creature you adopted on a frozen moon two hundred hours ago might turn out to be the answer to a matchup you keep losing.

The system is deliberately separate from the game's shooting. Nothing here happens in real time. You pick a creature, pick an ability, and watch the result play out with new music, cinematic camera work, and a combat log tracking what landed. If you have avoided combat in No Man's Sky because twitch aim is not your thing, this is a different game underneath the same sky.

What Xeno Arena Added

Version 6.30 arrived on 8 April 2026 and layered a full tactical battle system onto the existing companion feature set. The headline pieces:

  • Turn-based creature battles using your tamed and registered companions.
  • Hundreds of new abilities for companions to learn and use.
  • Elemental affinities derived from xeno species and home worlds.
  • Holo-Arenas as physical venues, both PvE and PvP.
  • A companion cap raised from 18 to 30.
  • Iteration: Oceanus, a new NPC on the Space Anomaly.
  • Battle presentation: new music, visual effects, cinematic cameras, and a combat log.

Companions earn XP from battles, so a creature you use regularly grows into the role. The exact progression numbers are best read in game rather than memorised, since they were adjusted during the patch cycle that followed release. See our 2026 update roundup for where 6.30 sits among the year's releases.

Where to Find a Holo-Arena

You do not need to build anything. Holo-Arenas are placed in locations you already visit constantly.

Where What you find there Notes
Space stations Holo-Arena terminal for battles The everyday option. Any station you dock at while trading or refuelling.
The Nexus, Space Anomaly Holo-Arena plus the Anomaly's other companion facilities Convenient hub, since the Egg Sequencer and other players are already here.
Space Anomaly, general Iteration: Oceanus, "the collector" New NPC associated with creature collecting.

Since the Anomaly can be summoned almost anywhere, the practical answer to "where do I battle" is usually "call the Anomaly." Space stations matter more when you are deep in a trade run and want a few quick matches without breaking the loop.

How a Battle Works

Battles are turn based. You bring creatures from your companion index, your opponent brings theirs, and each side takes turns choosing what its active creature does. Abilities have cooldowns, so you cannot spam the same strong move every turn, and knocking out an opponent's creatures is how a match ends.

The combat log is the part worth using. It records what happened each turn, which is how you learn why a move that looked strong did nothing. Reading the log after a loss teaches the system faster than repeating the same team into the same opponent.

Specific damage numbers, turn order rules, and per-ability behaviour vary by creature and ability, and Hello Games tuned several of these after launch. Check the in-game ability descriptions and the combat log rather than trusting any fixed numbers you read online.

Affinities and Why Roster Variety Matters

Every creature has an elemental affinity that comes from its xeno species and the world it was found on. This is the strategic core of the system: a roster of six creatures that all share one affinity will run into opponents it simply cannot answer, no matter how well levelled those creatures are.

The practical consequence is that your travels are your team building. A companion caught on a scorched world and one caught on a frozen world are not interchangeable, and the habit of adopting the first pleasant-looking creature on every planet you land on suddenly pays off. If your collection is thin, taming a wider range of creatures across different biomes is the highest-value thing you can do before spending much time in the arena.

Hello Games does not publish a type chart, and the affinity relationships were adjusted in the post-launch patches. Learn them by fighting rather than by memorising a table someone posted in April.

Thirty Slots, and What to Do With Them

The companion cap moved from 18 to 30 at the same time the battles arrived, which is not a coincidence. Eighteen slots forced you to keep only creatures you liked looking at. Thirty gives room for a working bench.

A reasonable way to divide the space:

  • Six to eight active battlers. Creatures you actually field, levelled through regular use.
  • A spread of affinities held in reserve. Coverage for matchups your main team loses.
  • Breeding stock. Parents whose traits you want to keep reproducing.
  • Favourites. The ones you keep because you like them. Still a valid use of a slot.

Releasing a companion is permanent, so treat the extra twelve slots as breathing room rather than an excuse to hoard indiscriminately. Adopt broadly while exploring, then prune once you know what your roster is missing.

Iteration: Oceanus

A new NPC called Iteration: Oceanus, described as "the collector," now resides on the Space Anomaly and is associated with creature collecting. If you are already on the Anomaly for the Egg Sequencer or the Nexus, it is worth walking over and talking to them to see what they offer at your stage of progression. Exact services and rewards are best checked in game.

Feeding the Arena: Taming, Breeding, Eggs

Xeno Arena does not replace the existing companion loop. It gives that loop a destination.

Taming is where the raw material comes from. Every planet you visit is a chance at an affinity you do not have, which makes hunting rare and unusual creatures more rewarding than it was when a rare pet was purely a trophy.

Breeding is where you refine it. The Egg Sequencer lets you edit an egg before it hatches, so a companion you produce deliberately is closer to what you want than one you stumbled across. Our companion breeding and egg editing guide covers that process in full. The natural workflow now runs: tame widely, identify the gaps in your roster, breed to fill them, then take the results to a Holo-Arena.

One planning note carried over from breeding: hatching needs a free slot. With 30 slots you have more room, but a breeding project still stalls if every slot is occupied when the timer runs out.

Battling Other Players

Player battles are opt-in and take place at a Holo-Arena. You are not going to be jumped by someone's tamed predator while you mine cobalt on a quiet moon. Both sides walk into an arena and agree to fight, which keeps the whole system on the friendly side of the game's multiplayer rather than being a griefing vector. It sits closer to showing off a collection than to the open-world shooting covered in our PvP guide.

The Nexus is the practical place to find opponents, since it is where players already congregate. If nobody is around, NPC Holo-Arena opponents cover the same ground and are the better teacher anyway, since you can repeat a matchup as often as you like.

Post-Launch Patches: 6.31 to 6.36

Between April and May 2026, six patches tuned the system. Worth knowing about if you played at launch and formed opinions:

  • NPC opponents stopped using moves that would knock out their own last remaining pet, which had been producing absurd forfeits.
  • Opposing creature affinities were made more appropriate, so NPC teams make sense rather than fielding arbitrary combinations.
  • Ability cooldowns were fixed.
  • XP calculations were fixed.

If your experience of Xeno Arena was the first week after release, the version you are playing now behaves noticeably differently.

FAQ

What is Xeno Arena?

Xeno Arena is No Man's Sky update 6.30, released 8 April 2026. It adds turn-based tactical battles fought with creatures you have tamed and registered as companions, along with hundreds of new companion abilities, elemental affinities, and a raised companion cap. It is a free update.

Where do I battle?

At Holo-Arenas. They are found in space stations and in the Nexus aboard the Space Anomaly. Since you can summon the Anomaly nearly anywhere, that is usually the fastest route to a match.

How many companions can I have now?

Thirty adopted at once, raised from the previous cap of 18 in the same update.

Can I battle other players?

Yes. Player battles happen at Holo-Arenas and both sides choose to take part, so there is no risk of being ambushed during normal play. NPC Holo-Arena opponents are available whenever you would rather practise or nobody else is around.

Do I need a rare creature to compete?

No. Affinity coverage matters more than rarity, and a varied roster of ordinary creatures from different worlds handles more matchups than a handful of exotic ones sharing an affinity. Rare finds are still worth chasing, but they are not a requirement.

Key Takeaways

  • Adopt broadly before you optimise. Affinity coverage comes from visiting different worlds, and no amount of levelling fixes a roster that only answers one kind of opponent.
  • Use NPC opponents as your practice range. They repeat, they are always available, and the post-6.31 versions play sensibly enough to teach you the system.
  • Read the combat log after losses. It is the only place the game explains why an ability underperformed.
  • Treat breeding as roster construction now rather than a cosmetic hobby, and keep a slot free so hatches never force a rushed release.
  • Ignore fixed numbers and type charts from April 2026. Patches 6.31 through 6.36 changed cooldowns, XP, and affinity assignments, so verify anything mechanical in game.