Developer Explains No Man’s Sky Delay

Hello Games has confirmed the rumours: the release of No Man’s Sky, the space explorer considered one of the most ambitious games ever developed, has been delayed. We won’t have to wait too long beyond its intended 21^st June release date, but Sean Murray, who wrote a candid post for the PlayStation Blog, hopes the delay will give him and his colleagues the extra time required to finesse this potentially monumental title.

“The game really has come together, and it’s such an incredible relief,” Murray writes. “As we sit and play it now, and as I watch playtesters every day, I can finally let myself get excited. We’re actually doing this.”

“However, as we approached our final deadlines, we realised that some key moments needed extra polish to bring them up to our standards,” he adds. “I have had to make the tough choice to delay the game for a few weeks to allow us to deliver something special.”

Sadly, the delay was rather predictable: Hello Games is a small, UK-based developer which tasked itself with creating a fully-formed, procedurally generated universe; A for ambition, indeed.

“After a short delay, No Man’s Sky will launch in North America on August 9, in Europe August 10, and in the UK August 12,” he revealed.

Given the rash of games released unfinished (or even broken) over the last few years – Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain spring to mind – the delay, intended to ensure the game is the best that it can be, should be applauded.

“We understand that this news is disappointing. Making this game is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but we are so close now, and we’re prepared to make the tough choices to get it right,” Murray assured. “The universe of No Man’s Sky is incredibly vast. More than you can imagine. This is a type of game that hasn’t been attempted before, by a smaller team than anyone would expect, under an intense amount of expectation.”

“[D]espite all of that, development is genuinely going well.,” he concluded. “This is the hardest working, most talented team I’ve ever worked with, and I’m so proud of what we’re doing. For all our sakes though, we get one shot to make this game and we can’t mess it up.”