No Man’s Sky leaves Late Show host Stephen Colbert in absolute awe

“I thought Morgan Freeman was God. You’re actually the second God I’ve had on my show now.”

It’s a compliment that Late Show host Stephen Colbert directs at No Man’s Sky creator Sean Murray, followed shortly by the entire room bursting into applause for an idea that has really taken gaming by storm. In his second gaming-focused interview of the week, Colbert invited Murray and the collective minds of Hello Games to show of their infinite space exploration title, and it certainly caught the attention of everyone there.

Murray – hacking his game so that he could instantly teleport between planets – showcased a fair share of what No Man’s Sky is all about. If you’re not entirely clued up, you’ll see just a handful (no really, there’s 18 quintillion planets out there. Five is nothing) of planets that are randomly generated on the fly. Their atmospheres, flora and fauna as well as wildlife are all calculated and created too – to the point where even Murray and his team have absolutely no idea what going to be found.

It’s a piece of technical wizardry that no doubt left Colbert and his audience stunned, as Murray raced around in the short time he had, only stopping to name some of the new creations after the host himself (Molbert was a favourite of mine). In the game any creation you stumble upon first will be yours to claim – meaning animals, plants and entire star systems can have whatever eloquent (or truly repulsive) name you desire. And considering how slim chances are that you’ll see other players, it might begin and end as a very inside joke.

There’s lots of familiar gameplay on show and sadly still no release date to offer, but I can’t help but smile every time I see No Man’s Sky. It’s a confusing, hard to grasp idea for a game, but isn’t that in itself exciting? I definitely think so.

Last Updated: October 5, 2015