Do you remember No Man's Sky? The game released to a chorus of hype, but aside from Stephen Tailby's excellent Mission Blog series, there aren't a whole lot of people talking about it anymore. That's because, whether you loved the game or not, it didn't quite deliver on what director Sean Murray had previously said about it. And now even Sony's very own Shuhei Yoshida has weighed in on the situation.
"I understand some of the criticisms especially Sean Murray is getting, because he sounded like he was promising more features in the game from day one," the executive explained in an interview with Eurogamer.net. "It wasn't a great PR strategy, because he didn't have a PR person helping him, and in the end he is an indie developer. But he says their plan is to continue to develop No Man's Sky features and such, and I'm looking forward to continuing to play the game."
Some cretinous corners of the web are already trying to suggest that Yoshida's thrown Murray – who hasn't tweeted in weeks, by the way – under a bus here, but we think that he's merely suggesting that there was no filter between the developer and the public, which caused things to get a little out of control. "I am super happy with the game actually, and I'm amazed with the sales the game has gotten," he continued.
Many may argue that the platform holder should have stepped in sooner – especially considering that it published the PlayStation 4 version of the game. But it's perhaps worth noting that, aside from support with quality assurance, the Japanese giant played no role in the development of the game. That said, it probably could – and maybe should – have done more to keep expectations under control, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 29
Doesn't sound like he's throwing him under the bus at all. It was merely a statement of fact as any idiot could tell it wasn't a great PR strategy and the game certainly didn't deliver on its promises so is he supposed to just kiss the guy's a$$. The stupidity of people, many of them probably Xbox fanboys, never ceases to amaze me. I give these corporate windbags a lot of crap but nothing said here was wrong or malicious.
As far as I'm concerned, the game delivered exactly what I was expecting. So I wasn't disappointed at all, and still enjoy playing it.
I think this one can still be salvaged. History is filled w/ games that were disliked by either large or vocal parts of the population that were actually OK games. Ico and SotC, Windwaker, Starfox Adventures, Super Mario Sunshine.
Of course Spore was a thing. I think that's probably a fair comparison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMqW1FCbG6A
I personally didn't give into the hype before the launch. I only became interested after watching others play so I knew what I was getting into. No disappointment on my end.
He understands the critisism and still Sony wont refund the money i spend on what turned out to be a half finished game some get refunds but not in Denmark where i live due to the atrocious rule on psn if you downloaded a digital version No refund after download. If i had known that i was buying a half finished game do you really think i would have spent 60 dollars volontarily. thank you for taking My money now we can just get lost.NOT only do you have to Pay for playing online and the free games every month is a joke. Been a loyal Sony customer since the 1 Playstation. That ends now. After the blatant Rip off that no mans sky ps4 turned out to be then the ps4 is My last Sony console thats for sure. Sony is now EA number 2... Greed before customers. Maybe Sony should have told goodbye games to spend another year implementing the things they have promised in trailers All the way back from 2012
@Ghostydk Yup. Not getting a refund for a game you chose to buy is an excellent reason to hate a company.
Interesting also how this is your first post here.
Overhype the game!!! I don't think it was bad PR strategy since it helped the game sell way way better than it would have sold based on merits alone
I'm kinda confused. I didn't really follow No Mans Sky so can someone fill me in- what was Seasn Murray saying about the game prior to release?
Never appealed to me but when Sony said this was going to be a full price title, they really didn't help the developer or themselves! If they had charged the standard indie title price, I don't think they would be getting anywhere near the flak they are getting.
@naruball maybe because its the first time or second time i have bought a half finished game and i actual dont see its Any of your business about how many times i have posted here or not
I'm doing what every reasonable gamer should have done with such a game: just wait until it's all fixed and updated. A good game is a good game even 10 years later its release.
@Diymhoshei That's a good point, raising the price increased expectations a lot I think. Certainly did for me, I originally expected the price to be £20 at the very most.
I was interested in Sean Murray's hyped version of the game but not in what was released. If they ever patch it in then I might get it. That is why I waited for reviews. Not throwing him to the wolves but just a statement of fact. He should not have gone on record and promised those features.
Urgh no.. That was half the problem. Just read comments on NMS articles prior to release. Some fans had hyped themselves up to such an unrealistic level based on what they wanted a game set in an unlimited universe to be like. Then wanted to blame anybody but themselves when it didn't meet their insane expectations. Somewhat deeper trading, a few more ships in dog fights, bigger creatures to find and base building from the get go would NOT have made the difference for these fools.
My main issue is it shouldn't have been £50. £20-30 is right.
Like Watch Dogs and nearly ever game that was released in 2014, people just went OTT and expected too much.
@RadoGoji Yeah, my understanding of the game is from the trailer that sony shows on playstation youtube channel (explore, fight, trade, survive trailer) and it deliver on that 4 experience.
I agree on pushsquare review, a good game with solid foundation. Besides, if I'm bored with the game I can just sell it since I bought the physical version.
I held off with this game which I am glad I did. Not because I think they did a bad job. What they achieved was great. But I think the game will evolve over time so will see what it is like in 6 months time and what features they add.
I do not have sympathy for people who think the game was half finished or whatever peoples complaints are. Read reviews before you buy a game and watch gameplay. Then you know what you are getting.
@Ghostydk
Rolige nu
Man lære af sine fejl.
You learn from you mistakes.
Next time don't hurry preoder wait for videos especially.. A new ip.
If you are a fan it doesn't matter.
There a some games I will buy just based on the games name.
Like mass effect or elder scroll. Fallout. xcom
And so on.
This the same Sony which has had NMS plastered all over its ads and websites for the last six months.
The same Sony which has treated NMS as a first party exclusive.
The same Sony who relentlessly promoted NMS at all the trade shows and expos.
Hard to believe they didn't know the state of the game.
Hard to believe that they did not organise PR and have a team liaising with HG.
So either Sony is incompetent or worse....bad move by Yoshida.....
I don't understand what people expected this game to be.
I saw all the trailers and press conferences and the game delivered exactly what I expected it to. Got the platinum a few days back and I'm still playing it. I'm hoping for a pro patch that could solve some of the pop/phase in issues.
@RadoGoji do u mind me copying this. It exactly describes my situation:
I personally didn't give into the hype before the launch. I only became interested after watching others play so I knew what I was getting into. No disappointment on my end.
The price was a tad too steep.
Murrray is in Dubai swimming in champers.
This is Sony doing damage control, they would have said nothing if they felt it wasn't an issue. To be honest though they don't have to release statements like this though since a horde of forum posters will rush to their aid if anyone voices something negative
It exceeded my expectations to be honest. Sony and Yoshida very subtly distancing themselves from their own laziness there.
@blah01 My thoughts exactly
@BambooBushido
We will see now what happens: do HG and Sony stay quiet or do they attempt to fix the game and engage meaningfully with the community.
Although the community has not come well out of this with the character assassination of the developers.
I like the game and see it's potential, I hope they fix it.
@Diymhoshei - Yes. Can't believe this game is still about £46 in Sainsburys. It looks like a £19.99 product at best.
Good game, well worth the asking price. I well remember the "what do you do in No Mans Sky" articles from gaming sights! People hyped themselves in what they thought the game was. How many times do people have to see "Don't Preorder" wait for game play videos after release. What about the guy who posted game play videos weeks before launch!!
Was hyped for the game, played it for several hours. Realised there wasn't too much of a "game" there, underneath the cool programming, but loved the art direction and music. "Mile wide, inch deep" was true.
The first planet and launching into space was the best part of the game actually, the wonder and survival aspects of repairing your ship.
as @Grawlog said;
Either way, I got almost 50 hours of playtime out of what is in my opinion a 6/10 game. It was overpriced, should have been $29.99, but I squeezed my value out of it. It feels very much like an Early Access title, complete with lack of content and tons of bugs.
Though, with this, Fallout 4's season pass, and various other examples I think I have become firmly entrenched in the "PSN sale/game of the year edition" for my purchases now, especially for one player titles.
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