Foul Play

The founder of the Hello Games studio and the creative director of No Man's Sky, Sean Murray, in a conversation with PCGamesN, said that the average number of hours that gamers spend in the game has almost doubled since its release.

The numbers were very contradictory after the release, but the players spent an average of 25 hours in the game. This is quite difficult to understand. For each person who plays your game only an hour, there is another one who spends 50 hours in it.
Sean murray

According to Murray, some gamers spent hundreds of hours at No Man's Sky. It is this indicator that motivates developers to create updates, because there are no classic gameplay mechanics in the game that encourage gamers to return to the game.

Now a player who buys a game with all additions, on average, spends about 45 hours in it. This is really a lot, if we talk about average figures. Very few games I play for a year delay me for 40 or 50 hours, so we are pleased with this result.
Sean murray

Murray noted that most of the time players spend on research and construction of bases. The latter motivates players to explore the planets and find the buildings of other players.