'No Man's Sky' Went From Horribly Broken to Best Game in the Galaxy

If you thought the high profile 2020 Cyberpunk 2077 original release was a colossal failure, it’s nothing compared to a lesser known game which came out in 2016. No Man’s Sky was billed as one of the most ambitious, incredible games ever to be released and anticipation was high. When the game launched, players-hoping-to-become-fans were furious (I mean gamers are often furious but this was above and beyond). Now, years later, No Man’s Sky actually IS one of the most incredible games on the market.

Original trailers for No Man’s Sky had players a little bit TOO hyped up. The devs showed off thriving worlds full of dynamic lighting and eco-systems with many species interacting with the planet. Oopsie. The game released to huge disappointment. It had been billed as an exciting space adventure game, one where you could join warring factions and build alliances and carve your way through a galaxy that was still being discovered. But players couldn’t really do any of that on day one. No, day one revealed a game that was pretty calm and more than a little glitchy. It was a PR disaster for the small indie developer and its charismatic director Sean Murray. We’re not saying he’s as nefarious as Elizabeth Holmes, but he did make claims so different from reality that they were approaching The Dropout levels.

So how did it get fixed? Well, the hype may have backfired originally but it also sold a ton of pre-release copies. The studio had enough money to keep the lights on and to keep developing No Man’s Sky to be the game they intended to make all along. The developers at Hello Games worked for years to update the game with functional and engaging story arcs, side quests, multiplayer modes, and dynamic planetary systems. Best of all, they introduced base-building, fulfilling the promise of being able to truly, virtually live in the universe players were exploring.

Free patches (a downloadable update to the game’s software) have been rolling out since the game’s debut. And the most exciting update yet just dropped. Players now have the ability to go outlaw and undertake dangerous and lucrative smuggler missions. It’s brought some mixed reviews because people are getting swarmed by pirates, but the player base is confident that will be fixed soon. Your galaxy wide wanted level brings the heat and your resource management brings the… meat? You get what I’m saying here. The game is finally giving what was promised: a vast, interactive universe, teeming with other players and battles and narratives that shape the history of this strange new galaxy.