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[Draugoth]

Today we’re peeling back the curtain on more of the mystery started in the Interceptor update in our latest expedition – Singularity. It is chapter two of a four-part narrative that will play out throughout the year.

Like all No Man’s Sky expeditions, Singularity draws Travellers together from all systems to a specific starting point in the universe, this time to investigate the curious robot heads that were bamboozling those who came across them in Interceptor with cryptic binary messages. We want to keep the mystery, but this is a story about AI corruption, robotic uprisings and strong hints of what’s to come in No Man’s Sky.

 

[Sorne]

I'm amazed at how much they keep supporting this game. Props to Hello Games

 

[Guilty_AI]

Still remember how everyone back then thought they were just gonna run off with the money

 

[Lucifers Beard]

The game just isn’t for me, but I’ll tip my hat to them for supporting the game and actually providing the community what they said they would initially.

 

[lh032]

Is there any actual random events happening on the planet? Can you like hire NPC to travel with you or something? or they just "stand" on their spot as usual

My main concern is that each planet still plays the same, very static

 

[Guilty_AI]

Is there any actual random events happening on the planet?

Yes, meteors falling or random starships landing close to you (which you can then interact with the NPC and often buy suspicious stuff). Other things too but its been too long i played and i honestly not 100% of everything that can happen with all the updates (i know some special type of monsters may pop-up or something).

Can you like hire NPC to travel with you or something?

You can hire npcs to work at your base or be part of your freighter fleet. As far as actual companions following you around go, its either other players or pets, that i know of.

My main concern is that each planet still plays the same, very static

Planets still work like biomes, they have unique resources, some have unique characteristics like agressive sentinels or being completely devoid of life, and such.

But in general, yeah, planets are more or less static, no evolving ecosystems, buildings are always in the same spots, no new buildings will be appear (except if its by the player or other players online), or anything of the sort.

 

[Elder Legend]

Jesus christ. This game just keeps on giving. Huge props to the dev team.

 

[Evolved1]

Still kinda waiting for them to get the VR optimized... hopefully they eventually do.

 

[scraz]

Still kinda waiting for them to get the VR optimized... hopefully they eventually do.

I just want to use a xbox controller with my index sitting down. Is that possible yet?

 

[saintjules]

The game just isn’t for me, but I’ll tip my hat to them for supporting the game and actually providing the community what they said they would initially.

Agreed. I liked flying into space, but that was about it.

 

[blastprocessor]

So do these DLCs provide more story mode content that's essentially outside the main campaign?

 

[scydrex]

No improvement for psvr2 pass... will get it when they add forvated rendering and improve the iq.

 

[darrylgorn]

Does the game still feel empty with this narrative or are there any interesting scripted events?

 

[Dr_Ifto]

Man this game has changed so much since I platinumed it 5 years ago, I bet I would have to start over.

 

[Patrick S.]

I’d love a third chance to unlock the Normandy ship from Mass Effect. Missed both previous opportunities by a few days

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

It's a great game for what it is. But man I wish there was better combat. I'd love to see NMS + Mass effect. Hopefully Starfield will live up to that for me.

 

[German Hops]

How are they even making money at this point?

Just make a sequel!

 

[Guilty_AI]

So do these DLCs provide more story mode content that's essentially outside the main campaign?

Kinda hard to explain, the game is a "do whatever you want type" of game and most of what these DLCs add for the story is in terms of expanding the world, lore and so forth. A lot of the story is about getting to know the game's universe after all.
The "main campaign" itself would be Artemis Path, the Atlas path, and a selection of tutorial missions. None of these really change, with the exception of the last one as new mechanics are added.

 

[Loomy]

The moment they allow cross save or at least a save transfer tool from PS5 to PC, I'm back in this thing...

 

[Bigfroth]

This game is like the Jelly of the Month club for a lifetime lol. it keeps on giving

 

[nemiroff]

I just started playing this game in co-op with my eight year old son, and he really enjoys it.

it's great to see the game is still being updated, it has come a long way since I first played it.

 

[Saber]

Still remember how everyone back then thought they were just gonna run off with the money

Yeah, thats the type EA attitude of going off the boat if they either fail or don't hit their money expectations. Hats off to them for still supporting and not abandoning their fanbase, impressive.

 

[Negotiator101]

Game never lived up to its promise, thankfully Starfield is on the horizon.

 

[Thaedolus]

I really need to try this in VR again now that I’ve got a beefier rig

 

[ReBurn]

Hello Games just keeps feeding this game with content. I bought it day 1 and it's been a great value. I haven't played it in a while so maybe it's time to jump back in for a while.

 

[asker]

But, but... I was told a game couldn't just be maintained and polished for years after release and still be profitable, without microtransactions. Yet, No Man's Sky is still high up on the Steam best-sellers list.

 

[FunkMiller]

I’ll jump back into this when they optimise it for PSVR2.

 

[Hemingwayoffbase]

Serious question: how many new sales do you think an expansion like this will generate? It’s gotta be enough to cover the cost of development and feed into more expansions, right? How is that possible when this game technically came out in 2016?

If these expansions are profitable, why aren’t we still getting DLC for games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided or another Blood and Wine, both of which came out the same year?

 

[mrmustard]

Put like 100 hours into it on PS4, but after all the patches maybe i should revisit it.

 

[March Climber]

Serious question: how many new sales do you think an expansion like this will generate? It’s gotta be enough to cover the cost of development and feed into more expansions, right? How is that possible when this game technically came out in 2016?

If these expansions are profitable, why aren’t we still getting DLC for games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided or another Blood and Wine, both of which came out the same year?

They have allegedly sold 10+ million lifetime units so far and that was a researched number from last year. This is an indie studio by the way, so they’re probably set for life. At this point they’re constantly doing this for the fun and challenge of it and a paycheck isn’t that necessary.

The reason AAA single player games sometimes get left behind is because there’s already a ton of resources and money being spread elsewhere in corporations like Ubisoft, Square Enix, etc. on things like marketing departments, middle management, upkeep, building maitenance, a board of directors, deals being made, and the hundreds of artists and programmers who are demanding more money. Because of all of this, the publisher would need new products on a constant basis(and more often) so that the company remains stable. Using your primary team to make DLC for a single player game to make people come back to it over and over is more of a waste than either starting a new project that can sell for 60-70 dollars or starting a live service game. You’d also have to make sure that the players who bought the original long ago are even aware that there’s DLC, which requires the marketing team’s involvement.

I’m sure I’m missing other factors in the list above, but the larger point is that the team at Hello Games only had to worry about a tiny fraction of any of these costs because they were just a super small team of dudes who made Joe Danger prior to NMS. Sony helped them market NMS also. Then Xbox helped them market the re-release for the multiplatform announcement.

If your concept is unique enough and catches the right attention, it’s way more lucrative to go indie or AA. The problem is always timing and luck. You simply never know if your game will be a hit or ignored, and that’s why I miss ‘Summer of Indie’ before AAA game studios quickly realized that since indie games are selling during the summer, that they can do the same(and avoid the fall/winter AAA crowdedness at the same time).

Edit For any budding indie devs here: The thing I’ve noticed the most is that there is a much, much higher percent chance of your game being noticed and purchased, within the first year and a half of a console releasing. That is when the new console owner is starving for games and they will run out of the one or two AAA games to play very quickly. A great example of this was resogun. If you meet that release window, your chances are much, much greater as long as your game is good.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Serious question: how many new sales do you think an expansion like this will generate? It’s gotta be enough to cover the cost of development and feed into more expansions, right? How is that possible when this game technically came out in 2016?

If these expansions are profitable, why aren’t we still getting DLC for games like Deus Ex Mankind Divided or another Blood and Wine, both of which came out the same year?

They do a mix of new expansions plus new platforms, so they keep widening and deepening their potential and actual userbase.

Also, they started from a position where they had very very negative press and they wanted to dig the studio out of it for good.

It is possible that the studio is happy with the money they are making and it is not doing the big mega publisher greedy grab of ALL of the MONEY by trying to squeeze people as if they were walking and sitting wallets.

 

[March Climber]

I forgot to mention what P Panajev2001a said above. Having a great reputation works wonders for your next title, and they did say months ago that they’re working on a new big title alongside these expansions.

As long as their next title has a solid release, they’re going to have guaranteed sales and interest with any title they release afterwards.

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

I came here to hear the NMS theme song.

I am disappointed

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Good job.

 

[L*][*N*K]

I just want to know how do they do it? This game doesn't have a lot of cashflow (Microtransactions, Battle Pass, Subscription...etc) so how do they keep updating and keep it going like this? It is quite amazing to be honest.

 

[jasondefaoite]

I just want to know how do they do it? This game doesn't have a lot of cashflow (Microtransactions, Battle Pass, Subscription...etc) so how do they keep updating and keep it going like this? It is quite amazing to be honest.

Small studio. When you don't have thousands of employees you don't need to earn as much and still be profitable.

They have continually added content, but any time there are big updates the game becomes unplayable for a week or two due to the constant crashes. Con to having a small studio pumping out those changes.

I bought this game on day 1 and still love it.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Small studio. When you don't have thousands of employees you don't need to earn as much and still be profitable.

They have continually added content, but any time there are big updates the game becomes unplayable for a week or two due to the constant crashes. Con to having a small studio pumping out those changes.

I bought this game on day 1 and still love it.

It is fascinating to be honest.

 

[March Climber]

It is fascinating to be honest.

Distributing the money from 10 million+ copies sold amongst a team of a handful of people, is way different than distributing all of that money amongst a corporate office with thousands of employees, board, and CEO.

 

[DeepEnigma]

How are they even making money at this point?

Just make a sequel!

The game keep selling. Especially when they have sales.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Game never lived up to its promise, thankfully Starfield is on the horizon.

Yet you can't even take off or land on planets. In 2023. For "next/current gen."

So spacy, much load screen.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

Crazy how these modern space games can't have epic space battles while transitioning from space to inside planets, but Epic from 1992 was able to figure it out at 60fps (PC)

 

[Eotheod]

Just give me new combat mechanics and I'll be happy. That's seriously all that stops me from playing this game, is the shooting/harvesting mechanics being absolute dog crap.