No Man’s Sky may just be one of the greatest redemption stories of this gaming era. Arriving in a state that could be generously referred to as undercooked, Hello Games weathered a storm of vitriol and online abuse as they kept burning the midnight oil to make the definitive space exploration game. It took some time, but No Man’s Sky eventually evolved into a space spectacle, a lovingly crafted passion project on a grand scale.
And then Hello Games went above and beyond.
Ever since No Man’s Sky rewrote its own rulebook, Hello Games have been steadily pumping out free content that have fleshed the universe out brilliantly. Sometimes literally! A recent update saw the emergence of bio-organic spaceships to grow and pilot, you can now build giant mechs to do stuff with and there’s still more to come. Over the course of several expansions since 2016, No Man’s Sky has added significantly chunky expansions to its world, but 2020 will see more “ambitious” growth unveiled.
“Sometimes it’s good to take a moment and look back on the most recent steps in the No Man’s Sky journey,” Hello Games explained in a blog post.
Beginning with Synthesis, we planned to release more regularly, and it’s encouraging to look back on how this has unfolded so far. Over the past five months, we’ve released four substantial content updates – Synthesis, ByteBeat, the Living Ship and the Exo Mech – and we’re so happy with what each of those has added to the vision of the game.
In addition to these content updates, we are working up some more ambitious additions to the universe, and have so much more planned for 2020 for us to feel excited about.
From 2016’s Foundation, through to Pathfinder, Atlas Rises and Next, No Man’s Sky has since become a poster child for post-launch support. Living ship and Exo Mech updates have added more to its gigantic sandbox, but if those previous examples are any indication then the rest of 2020 is going to be a hell of a big year for the humble not-so-little space exploration game.
Last Updated: April 24, 2020
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
April 24, 2020 at 17:37
How on Earth are they keeping the lights on? Four years of significant development and then rolling it out for free? Dang.
Cryer
April 24, 2020 at 18:32
I don’t know but I massively appreciate what they’ve done. It would have been easy for them to react badly to the massive backlash at launch and abandon the game, taking the money and running. Instead they have released tons of brilliant new content for free, filling the game with the content they promised before release and more.
Hello Games have redeemed themselves completely in my eyes. I was one of the many angry voices damning them after release. Now my opinion has done a total 180, they have won me over with their dedication to consistantly improve the game and add tons of content without charging. No Man’s Sky is now a superb game, so much better than it was at release.
Hello Games did deserve a lot of the initial backlash they received but the way they have acted since then has led me (and I believe many others) to forgive them completely. I would now highly recommend this game and will view the developers in a good light in future.
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
April 24, 2020 at 18:56
I agree. I had the game a while ago. I’ll give it another shot after lockdown.. How is it compared to other space-faring games like EVE etc?
Cryer
April 24, 2020 at 23:03
I’m not really sure how it compares because I haven’t played many similar space games. I’ve never played EVE or any games where you can travel to many different planets (except the Mass Effect series and it’s hard to compare them because that is so story driven).
It feels like there is lots to do in the game now. Lots of progression to be made, side-missions, ship customisation, base building etc. I’ve had tons of fun playing it and exploring new planets (planet variety has improved a lot since release).
The developers are so active with the updates that new content is added regularly as well. I’m enjoying playing it whilst in lockdown (some nice escapism). Hope you have a good time with it 🙂
Alfred Morris
July 15, 2020 at 15:32
It’s a nice game. They probably need to add something else to keep the mix interesting for longer term. It would be cool to see expansion of the fleet idea.
MaSeKind
April 24, 2020 at 17:38
They made millions at launch I think. And it’s never been a big team I think.
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
April 24, 2020 at 18:56
Last I read about them, they were a team of 12 or 14 people.. ?
D@rCF0g
April 25, 2020 at 15:10
It’s at a point where I would happily pay something for additional, but expansive content, although, when I say pay, I don’t mean charge me R300 for some more DLC!
Kenn Gibson
April 27, 2020 at 09:58
Not sure except that I think its a very small, highly skilled team. The more that Sean and the gang release the more I’m convinced that the initial release was pushed from Sony (they partnered with them for Marketing and promotion), but they have sold over 3 million copies at $60 each, and they released to Xbox in 2018, and I can see a switch port in the future, I’m sure they’re ok.