If you’ve been following No Man’s Sky since before it was even released ten years ago, you will definitely remember Hello Games CEO Sean Murray hyping the game up on a major press circuit before launch. Most infamously, Murray’s Colbert Show appearance gave audiences the impression the game would be completely revolutionary and genre-defining.
But audiences were sorely disappointed when No Man’s Sky was put out in a completely underwhelming state that didn’t deliver on even a fraction of Murray’s promises. This left a bad taste in players’ mouths, and despite NMS being improved by leaps and bounds since release, fans are still reluctant to get excited for Hello Games’ next big project, Light No Fire. However, the most recent Voyagers update makes it seem like Hello Games has learned more than a few valuable lessons.
No Man’s Sky Voyagers Update Is A Great Sign For Light No Fire
It’s Time For Fans To Start Getting Hyped For LNF
If you haven’t played No Man’s Sky for a while, there’s a good chance you will be returning to something unrecognizable. The game has undergone some incredible changes since its release back in 2016. After a series of free updates, the most recent being Voyagers Update 6.0, No Man’s Sky has increased in scale, complexity, customizability, and it’s likely the most immersive space exploration experience you’ll come across.
The Voyagers update includes multiple new features that, alongside previous updates, far surpass anything that Sean Murray promised was possible in the early days of the game’s inception. After a decade of lessons learned, Hello Games has shown that they are not the same studio they once were.
Seeing the growth of No Man’s Sky over the years should garner a bit of good faith among players, and the studio deserves credit where it’s due. Some might argue that Hello Games’ next project, Light No Fire, will suffer the same fate that No Man’s Sky did at launch as it won’t have the benefit of ten years of updates and refinement, but I’d argue that the lessons learned from NMS will almost certainly carry over.
Hello Games Has Learned A Lot From No Man’s Sky
Players Shouldn’t Be So Skeptical About Light No Fire
With Light No Fire in development, it would be very surprising to see a repeated launch failure akin to No Man’s Sky back in 2016. For starters, Light No Fire is a very different kind of gameplay experience from No Man’s Sky, structured in a more “confined” open-world setting. Players will be exploring a single, massive planet as opposed to an entire universe, and will be thrown into a more fantastical world with dragons, magic, etc.
The lessons learned over the years from No Man’s Sky will absolutely be paramount in developing Light No Fire, especially in terms of immersion and scale. Light No Fire will not need ten years of updates to become an incredible game, and there’s a really strong possibility it will blow players away at launch. Further, it would be pretty damning for the studio to stumble out of the gate yet again, especially with all the experience they have under their belts now.
That said, it’s understandable if No Man’s Sky fans remain cautiously optimistic about Light No Fire given the former’s history. Players don’t want to get burned twice, and until they see some tangible gameplay evidence that showcases Light No Fire as a massive improvement from its predecessor at launch, attitudes are unlikely to shift. However, there’s no denying that the Voyager update should have players hyped for Hello Games’ future.
No Man’s Sky
- Released
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August 9, 2016
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
- Engine
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Proprietary
