No Man’s Sky – Nearly 10 Years Later

No Man's Sky Promotional image. Colorful alien landscape featuring a red and pink grass field, exotic plants, and various alien creatures including dinosaurs and flying animals. A humanoid figure stands near a spacecraft while several rockets and ships ascend into the sky. A large geometric monolith floats in the sky with a glowing center, and a giant ringed planet is visible in the background

I saw that No Man’s Sky has released another update. I’ve been with this game since day one—I preordered it and even got the free bonus ship, which I still have to this day. That’s one ship I’ll never give up because it was a launch bonus. I’ve upgraded its storage and technology over the years, and it’s still with me.

I remember launch day—August 12, 2016—very clearly. My first thought was: “This is interesting... but broken.” It wasn’t like what they showed on stage. The experience was pretty basic, and I felt cheated. But I saw that they acknowledged the game’s shortcomings and promised to make things right.

And they did. They went even further and committed to free DLC. True to the word of Hello Games and Sean Murray, every single update has been free, and they’ve added an incredible amount of value.

I don’t play as often as I used to. Back then, I’d spend whole weekends exploring. Now I jump back in every few months, and I still play only my first saved game. And that’s okay. No Man’s Sky is kind of like space Minecraft—there’s no real “end.” It’s what you make of it. Technically, the end is reaching the center of the universe... but then you just start over in another one.

I love jumping from world to world and exploring. Honestly, I probably haven’t done even 50% of what this game offers—but I’m glad it’s all there waiting. This is one of the few games I paid $60 for that has truly been worth it. Next year marks 10 years, and I hope Hello Games does something big—really big—to celebrate.

Think about it: I spent $6 a year on a game that has delivered about 98% of what was originally promised and continues to grow and stay relevant. I wish more studios would take that approach—release complete games, not betas or glorified alphas, and if things go wrong, fix them. Take as long as it takes, just like Hello Games did.

The only other studio that’s tried something similar is Rare with Sea of Thieves, though in my opinion, they haven’t gone nearly as far. I haven’t spent another dime on that game. It feels more like a service model now, likely due to Microsoft needing to justify its existence.

Another game that comes to mind is Starfield from Bethesda. That launch was even worse—it burned me so badly that I stopped buying games on day one or even in the first month. Starfield has gotten more playable now, but it still hasn’t lived up to its hype. Bethesda would do well to follow Hello Games’ example with that title.

To Hello Games and Sean Murray: I wish you the best of luck in your future projects. I’d gladly buy another game from you—maybe just not on day one or preorder—but you’ve earned my trust again. Please keep evolving No Man’s Sky. Let’s celebrate a fantastic 10 years next year.

And when you finally decide to stop development, I hope you’ll make it possible to run and maintain the full game offline on our own computers. That would be a perfect sendoff. A true “we’re sorry for the rough launch, and here’s our thank you for sticking with us.”

You have my trust—and my thanks—as both a gamer and a customer.

#NoMansSky #Gaming #HelloGames #GameDevelopment

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