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No Man's Sky 5 Year Retrospective

cormack12

Gold Member
Source: https://blog.playstation.com/2021/0...y-hello-games-reflects-on-the-journey-so-far/



Five years ago today we launched No Man’s Sky. For the first time we watched players all over the world begin to explore the universe we had created. It was a nerve-wracking moment and the culmination of five years of very hard work for our tiny team (the average team size was just 6, and at launch was just 15).

We knew this was the start of a journey, but never expected what a wild ride it would be. Today we’d like to take a moment to appreciate this milestone together. It hasn’t always been easy, but the thing that has been our guiding star throughout has been the players and the community. Behind every update, every video, every feature and line in a patch note is a team that cares so deeply for this game.

Our journey really started from the moment we stepped out nervously on the Sony stage at E3 2014 to share the first gameplay of our ambitious project. It was months after we had our office flooded, and it felt like a small triumph to still be standing as a team.

The years before and after launch are one big blur, but some updates really stand out as milestones.

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It’s hard to imagine how we launched so many major updates so close to launch. Foundations launched around 10 weeks after the main game, introducing Base Building for the first time. Base building is now such an integral part of No Man’s Sky, but it felt unexpected at the time. Foundations really became the foundation for how the next few years would take shape.

No Man’s Sky Next was an inflection point. It felt almost like a new game launch and brought multiplayer to PlayStation players in 2018. The reaction of the community continues to motivate us years later.

In 2019, as just one part of the large Beyond update, we brought the whole game to PlayStation VR. Built from the ground up, travellers could experience the wonders of the universe in fully realised virtual reality as a free update. It was the moment I felt I could see the game with fresh eyes, to really step into this universe we had created with a new perspective.

I really didn’t have that feeling again until 2020, at the launch of PlayStation 5, we were able to be there with an enhanced, ultra version of the game, as another free upgrade. Seeing the game with a new beautiful makeover, running on next generation hardware, was a real moment for the team.

And finally, as we push forward to 2021, our next update Frontiers is something I’m very excited about. In some ways it is just another update, but in other ways it’s a missing piece of the sci-fi fantasy that we’ve always wanted to add, and very fitting for our fifth anniversary.
 

Soodanim

Member
It’s not my sort of game so I’ve lost track of the updates, but I do remember the pre-release media hype, with appearances on late night talk shows and other unexpected places. Then the launch, and all of the disappointment and controversy surrounding the game and even the multiplayer lie.

Last I heard they’d built it up to be something much better than what the world first got to see, at least.

Do we have any NMS players here?
 
i have loaded and deleted this game a few times , but finally it merits a proper go at playthrough(beyond a few hours).

played last night on p5 and hard to stop n put down now.
, hit it again first thing on waking... looking forward to next update! hopefully some sort of big server for multiple players in a part of the verse, squadron 89.
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
For me, the issue is that, the game is still boring.

I just hope they able to add in random encounters, its too quiet, and environment still extremely bland.
 

Fare thee well

Neophyte
Amazing how much you guys fixed. I never was part of the hype for the game, but I tried it 2-3 years later. I was more than pleasantly surprised. So much was added since I last played. I need to go back.

Many studios release incomplete, rough, or poorly received games. Very few take the time to fix it all for free to rectify that. Respect. You took ownership of a mistake.
 
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ReBurn

Gold Member
I need to play this on PS5 now. I bet it's been 2 years since I've played it but I played it constantly when it launched.
 

Kev Kev

Member
NMS VR is still one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had. There were so many “finally” moments, like flying in space, chillin in my ship out to n space, zipping in and out of mountains on planet, discovering and exploring ship wreckage out in the middle of nowhere, built a sick base on an island, etc.

A space game in VR is something I’ve wanted for a long time. Just VR in general. So that space game being NMS was just about perfect. It’s a good game, with some flaws and other curious choices, but a must play in flatscreen or VR. If not just to experience flying on and off planet seamlessly. That shit is still so cool to me, even after the 1000th time.
 

saintjules

Member
Great redemption story. I bought a used copy. Played for a few hours. Not my thing overall, but it was cool to follow its progress in the rebuild via the updates.
 
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