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The studio behind 'No Man's Sky' has a new, bite-sized game
Hello Games is known for No Man's Sky, an expansive space-exploration game that received heavy marketing from Sony ahead of its launch in 2016, and rocketed studio founder Sean Murray to infamy and stardom. No Man's Sky endured a turbulent release period, but developers continued to roll out updates and deliver on their most ambitious promises, and this year it was nominated for Best Ongoing Game at The Game Awards. But before No Man's Sky, Hello Games was the home of Joe Danger, a cartoony racing title that found great, yet comparatively mild, success in the early 2010s. Hello Games' new project, The Last Campfire, is a lot more like Joe Danger than No Man's Sky.
Someone really wants 'No Man's Sky' developers to apologize
The internet hivemind's vile side was at it again this morning. This time, by apparently hacking the Twitter, Linkedin and email accounts of No Man's Sky developer Hello Games. Buckle up because this gets messy. "No Man's Sky was a mistake." Following an extended period of silence from the developer, that (now deleted) tweet went out earlier today. Thinking something was afoot, Kotaku reached out to the developer via email and was told that, "No, the tweet was not a hack, but rather a disgruntled employee. The email that we sent however was official." Except the publication had received no prior emails.
'No Man's Sky' developer ends 'legal nonsense' battle over name
There's no sign that it contributed to the delay, but Hello Games founder Sean Murray said today that after "3 years of secret stupid legal nonsense," his company's game can be called No Man's Sky. They had to settle with trademark owner Sky TV to use the name that it's very protective of -- remember when Microsoft had to rename SkyDrive as OneDrive for the same reason? According to Murray's tweets, he's learned a lot about trademark law, and might have a good idea about why Skynet never happened. Seriously though, the highly anticipated game should be on track for its rescheduled release date of August 9th, and we can't wait to see it procedurally generated universe unfold.
'No Man's Sky' lore comes from classic sci-fi and comics
"We always said we shouldn't have a narrative, but we should have a lore," says No Man's Sky mastermind Sean Murray. And honestly, with a procedurally generated universe that's staggeringly gigantic, it'd be impossible to create a traditional video game story with things like cutscenes. But to make the world feel more alive and less like a giant empty sandbox, Murray says the team at Hello Games turned to artist Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame and scribe James Swallow who worked on the writing for Star Trek and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
A few stiff drinks saved 'No Man's Sky'
I'm alone on a freezing planet blanketed in snow; pine trees the color of rusted metal hang heavy with white powder. It's minus 163 degrees Celsius (minus 261 Fahrenheit), but my suit keeps me warm. For now. The thermal meter in the bottom-left corner of the screen slowly ticks down, warning me to find shelter or make some with the grenade attachment I recently crafted onto my gun. It shoots orbs of energy that blast through stone like warm butter, sometimes revealing massive underground cave systems dotted with spiky red plants rich in minerals for me to mine. Or, I could simply leave the planet. I could hop into my ship and blast off into the inky, star-studded universe. I could find a more hospitable planet occupied by strange, dinosaur-like creatures. I could find a more luxurious star system, a more dangerous galaxy, a more exciting adventure. The universe is mine. Actually, it's Sean Murray's. He's the mastermind behind No Man's Sky, the creator of this digital universe packed with 18 quintillion planets, each one unique and begging to be explored. No Man's Sky has captured the attention of the gaming world and beyond -- in the past year alone, Murray has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, met privately with Elon Musk and accidentally ignited a conspiracy theory involving Kanye West. Three years after its announcement, thousands of people around the globe are impatiently waiting for the game to finally launch. And it will, on June 21st. All of this -- the media attention, the anticipation, the entire universe -- started with four developers working out of a tiny English office in 2009, building a game called Joe Danger.
'No Man's Sky' finally takes off on June 21st for $60
No Man's Sky, the stylish space-exploration game that's roughly as big as the actual universe, will reach PlayStation 4 and PC on June 21st (June 24th in the UK), and pre-orders are live today. It even gets a physical Blu-ray edition on PS4. No Man's Sky is an independent title built by a team of 10 or so developers at Hello Games -- but it's absolutely massive, innovative and highly anticipated, which are a few reasons it'll cost a full $60 (£40 on PC and £50 on PS4). There's also a $150 "Explorer's Edition" courtesy of iam8bit, along with a slew of other game-related goodies. $60 is the standard price of a blockbuster game like Call of Duty or Star Wars: Battlefront, and No Man's Sky promises at least as much replay value as those titles. It has 18 quintillion unique planets to explore, after all. Plus, No Man's Sky has a better name than most AAA games, according to creator Sean Murray. "The thing I was really going for was something that felt like it could be the name of a book or an album or a band, or something like that," Murray tells Engadget. "Because games -- games are all just called the same thing."
'Minecraft' meets 'Grand Theft Auto V' in space
Imagine: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, reclines behind a desk built out of spare rocket ship parts. A gleaming saber rests to his right. Sean Murray, founder of the independent development studio Hello Games, sits across from him, chatting about Hello's new title, No Man's Sky. There's a break in the conversation and an awkward silence threatens to stretch between the two, but then: "What do you think is the percentage chance that we're living in a simulation?" Musk asks. Murray hardly has time to answer -- he's running late for an appointment with Steven Spielberg and his communications director is getting antsy. At this rate, they won't have time to meet up with Kanye.
