No Man’s Sky Dev Had the Most Horrendous Experience Dealing With Fans after Disastrous Launch Event

Debuting all the way back in August 2015, No Man’s Sky recently hit its eight birthday, and there’s never been a better time to reflect on this game, and how far it has come. While it’s an incredible game to dig into right now, it wasn’t the case when it released.

No Man’s Sky is a whole different game in 2024 than when launched. | Credit: PlayStation

When the game initially debuted on PS4 and PC, it was bashed by critics and fans alike who criticized the developer Hello Games for overpromising features, which didn’t make it to the final build. The entire situation caused a massive controversy. However, some fans took the outrage too far by harassing and sending death threats to the game’s development team.

No Man’s Sky Developers Received Death Threats

The game’s launch was a disaster for the development team. (Image via PlayStation)

In a conversation with The Guardian, Hello Games’ boss Sean Murray opened up about No Man Sky’s horrendous launch and revealed his thoughts on the angry mob nature of the internet. While he did acknowledge the studio’s mistakes with regard to communication pre-release, he was simply shocked by the reaction of certain players in the community.

According to Murray, he received death threats after the launch of No Man’s Sky, even for small aspects such as butterflies not being in the launch version of the title even though the announcement trailer had. However, that was just one of the multiple threats the developers received; they got even more sent to them for various other reasons, alongside harassment and bomb threats.

What’s even more shocking is that Murray and his team had to stay in frequent contact with Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan police after the game’s launch, and for good reasons. While the threats proved to be all empty, one can’t be too careful with such kind of harassment, and, fortunately, Murray or his team didn’t face any physical harm.

Depending on how one looks at No Man Sky’s launch, they will put the entire blame on Murray and his team for making false promises or fans for overhyping the title to oblivion. Either way, sending death threats for being disappointed in a video game wasn’t the appropriate reaction.

Despite the intense backlash and death threats, Murray and Hello Games didn’t give up on No Man’s Sky like many had predicted they would back in 2016. The studio kept on improving the game by addressing the needs of those who played the title instead of pleasing the angry critics. Hello Games’ strategy worked out in the long run as No Man Sky‘s is one of the best games money can buy right now.

The Future Looks Promising for Hello Games

The developers are already working on a brand-new game. (Image via PlayStation)

With No Man’s Sky‘s return to the top of Steam charts, Sean Murray and Hello Games have proven their commitment to the gaming community. The studio is already working on its next big title, Light no Fire, which will truly change gaming as we know it.

Light No Fire is an action-adventure game that’s set across one procedurally generated multiplayer Earth. It’s supposed to be a truly open world where gamers must work together and unravel the mysteries of Space. It’s one of the most ambitious projects by the studio and looks to capture the fantasy appeal that we see in Lord of the Rings.

Unfortunately, there’s still no release date for this game. However, there’s a chance that the launch could happen sooner than we expected. The game has been in development behind the scenes for more than five years at this point, from a small team working outside No Man Sky‘s realm.

Murray and his team have already stated that they won’t engage with the marketing campaign they took with the space-sim, which was in the public sphere for years before the launch.

With that said, do you think Hello Games’ has perfected No Many’s Sky after years of updates? If so, let us know in the comments below.