When discussing rough video game launches and the resulting polarizing responses, Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky has to be included in the conversation. While it was and remains very divisive, there’s no arguing that the game has seen significant, positive change since first releasing in August 2016. According to Hello Game’s founder, Sean Murray, other similarly polarizing video games could possibly learning something from No Man’s Sky and its subsequent development.
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According to GamesRadar+, Murray had a lot to say during his keynote at the Develop:Brighton conference earlier today in the United Kingdom. Specifically, Murray spoke at length about the initial reaction to No Man’s Sky and the way in which the company weathered the storm of community feedback and conversation.
“We went about two years without talking to press at all,” he reportedly said. “And we went about three months without saying anything to the community either. That was really hard. I sat down so many times and wrote the perfect blog post that was going to explain everything about the game’s development, and the road map going ahead. But I could see that it didn’t hold credibility with regards to where we were at.”
“There have been a number of games that have since come out, had a polarising launch, and that explosive mix of loads of people playing it but also problems. And I can see EA, Microsoft, or Bethesda try to placate players by just talking to them, but for right or wrong, it just doesn’t really work. You see this all the time when a big publisher will talk to the community and try to solve the problem and then get embroiled, taking up more and more of its head space.”
Now, he’s not outright naming various video games here, but it seems fairly obvious that Murray is referring to the likes of Anthem, Sea of Thieves, and Fallout 76. All three — published by EA, Microsoft, and Bethesda, respectively — have had rocky launches followed by a series of significant updates, often with heavy community involvement.
What do you think? Should other publishers look to No Man’s Sky‘s response as a good one? Let us know in the comments!
