Did Hello Games lie about No Man's Sky?

Now that the hype has died down there's clearly a lot of promised functionality missing from the game. But did Hello Games actually lie? GameFans goes through the old marketing materials and Sean Murray's own tweets to find out.

[gangsta_red]

I wouldn't say "lie", I don't believe Murray and crew intended anything with malicious intent. I do think he got carried away with what was planned to be in the game or what he thought would end up in the game when he was on talk shows explaining NMS.

[Shubhendu_Singh]

It IS Lying.

And ok, even if he intended all these features but couldn't find time to put them in,
Shouldn't he had clarified this BEFORE the release date approaches. But No, he decided to be mute.
^ That is scenario where we assume he had all the good intentions. (which personally, I Don't buy)

[uth11]

Clarifiy, you mean like this?

"To be super clear - No Man's Sky is not a multiplayer game. Please don't go in looking for that experience." -Sean Murray

[Pledius]

@uth11

you know that quote was tweeted AFTER game was released right?

[cleft5]

Mommy, mommy, the mean man lied to me!!!!! Whatever, I am I going to do mommy? I trusted the mean man blindly mommy and he lied to me. Boo ho, mommy the mean man lied.

That is how all of you idiots sound saying that. No Man's Sky was a game with a ton of hype and very little information. If you arent a complete idiot you wait until after the game is out to see what features are actually in it or not. Features get cut, some features dont make it into the game, downgrades happen. We know this from Watch Dogs, etc. If you are too darn stupid to realize that then you deserve to be played for a sucker.

Personally I didnt buy the game, because the features I wanted wasnt in the damn game. I knew that because like an informed consumer I waited for reviewers that I trusted to check out the game first.

There is a huge difference between lying and a feature getting cut for whatever reason. Did he lie about online? No, the game has online it just doesnt have mp online. Did he mislead people? No. Did he allow the hype to spiral out of control? Yes, he absolutely did that. But you know, Sean Murray is the head of Hello Games and his first priority is too his investors. Why the hell would he stop people from being crazy excited about the game he was making and selling to people? He isn't stupid for goodness sake.

[Vegamyster]

@cleft5

I bought the game and got a full refund the day it came out after a couple of hours of play, regardless what you're saying is blatantly false.

"Did he lie about online? No, the game has online it just doesnt have mp online."

He did say you could play with friends, he also told people on national TV you had the chance of running into other players. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

"Did he mislead people? No."

Showing footage off of things not in the game like large space battles between factions, desert planets with giant snakes, or telling us that water worlds were possible ect, are those things not misleading?

I get it, things change during development but how is it the consumers fault that they never told us those things were cut? I mean some of the footage shown of these things was in the last 6 months, not years ago.

[Palitera]

How long until we find he lied about the number of planets?

I mean, judging by his record, there is only a tiny chance he told the truth with the gazillions number.

[Kleptic]

@Shubhendu_Singh

exactly...

Lied: yes

Fraud: who knows

We've seen the interviews...we've seen the parodies...Lies are in place...

If he/they intended to do it; that is another issue. Launches suck, I get that, and if these issues are buried within launch problems...it makes sense...but the lack of feedback when directly cornered with these lies?...that is troubling...

My stance is one that doesn't accept the 'indie' nature of all this. It's not an indie game...I don't care that HG is a small team...everyone put in extra special work for your millions in sales as apposed to the alternative of a larger team? That's their end of the business, and it doesn't look any better when things are a disaster at release... If these features 'weren't ready', then that should've been clarified before it went on sale.

NMS has been yet another text book example of on fire software being released at full price because it remains more profitable to 'figure it out later'...that needs to stop...yesterday.

This is the only industry that does this...and this is the only industry that gets away with it. Do we care how many people were involved with a movie? Do we pre-order tickets for movies that A) don't work when we go to see it, and B) don't have content that was oddly confirmed but sort of didn't show up in release, but then talked about around release to show up later? Movies are still far more expensive than games to create, but then cost around a 1/4 to actually see, less than half to own. I've long been tired of the 'but it's so complicated' aspect of game development...we get it, it's expensive, it's difficult...but that continues to not be our problem...Be realistic with customers, don't promise the universe (har har), and NEVER go silent when shit gets bad...that's all we want...and it's exactly what any paying customer deserves...

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

@Pledius

That tweet was made the DAY BEFORE release and was largely ignored except for a few articles with IGN being one of the sites that reported the tweet. It's timestamped, so there's no way anyone could say "Nuh uh, that didn't happen."

https://twitter.com/nomanss...

This tweet was made August 8th, No Man's Sky was released August 9th.

[Majister-Ludi]

Uth people like you are silly. Now watch this then go to your room.
https://m.youtube.com/watch...

[Filmicfps]

"I don't believe Murray and crew intended anything with malicious intent"

Wtf??? He still lied!

"he got carried away with what was planned to be in the game "- he NEVER clarified when soo many people on twitter were asking him a direct question. He didn't answer it directly. The guy acted like a sleazy liar and hid under the rug.

The game reviews come out AFTER the game release and he weasels out of the truth.

[Der_Kommandant]

You can see him lying in the interviews just the way he acts, he diverts his eyes, rolls them, closes them, he looks down or not directly at the person, he has a nervous laugh etc.

[GamingIVfun]

People would be hard pressed to find a final version of any game that matched exactly what was in it's announcement trailer.

Sean murray did not lie about anything, lying implies intention. things change during development.

The multi player thing, 2014 Sean Murray gave a very vague explanation of multi player, in the two years since he has been very specific on many occasions that the multi player would not be interactive, that you may on the very very rare occasion see another player like in the game Journey, you just see them with no interaction, but it would probably not happen because the world is so large. The two guys that found the same planet at the same time but could not see each other, one was there at night and other during the day, could have been a bug or they were on different servers like with MMO's.

I have participated in a large battle involving freighters, you can shoot at ships in the planets lower atmosphere, you can shoot at them and freighters in outer space, people have seen butterfly like creatures, I have not seen large dinosaur like creature but I have seen creatures that are just as large, other have seen dinosaur like creatures, people have seen rivers on planets, you do do things to raise your status with the alien factions, you do see large structures (monoliths) on the planet and crashed ships, haven't seen any crashed freighters yet, the sand planet thing is debatable. Sure their are things missing but most of the things are subjective and up for interpretation.

I remember when Sean did the first demonstration of the game and he specifically said that it was not directly done in engine that the team put it together to give people an idea of what they wanted to do with the game.

Making games is a process, some of the things they may not have been able to get working with a good frame rate on PS4 and they compromised on them but even so in my opinion the game is for the most part what I was led to believe it to be, plus they are adding things to the game that Sean Murray didn't discuss.

The hate for this game. Hello Games and Sean Murray is outrageous, getting over hyped for this game was mostly gamers own doing and journalist hyping it, it wasn't by marketing because there wasn't much paid marketing. Sean Murray and Hello games aren't evil corporate liars, They are victims of having something interesting and new that was kinda hard to explain without spoiling what they wanted the gamer to experience. A huge universe where you figure things out on your own.

[Kurdishcurse]

" People would be hard pressed to find a final version of any game that matched what was in it's announcement trailer." I pity the people you are referring to. Thank god for the souls series.

[cleft5]

I absolutely agree with you. The people out for a witch hunt need to seriously calm down and stop trying to make this guy into a villain. Gamers need to remember to be an informed consumer first when purchasing a product.

[GamingIVfun]

Narcissistic and extremely cynical, transparency is just a lot of forum comments away, bet you don't know this songs about you.

[Rachel_Alucard]

There was never any bug or server issues like people sweep under constantly. The game doesn't send out packet data for player location at all, there is no multiplayer of any form. It is a simple text data that gets shared between players connected to the server. That is all.

[Majister-Ludi]

A huge universe with nothing at all to do. Grind resources to upgrade your ship. Grind resources to upgrade your suit. Grind resources to make fuel. The game is a boring monotonous grind and I feel sorry for those who spent 60 on it and are still defending this shallow poor attempt at a game. Call me when there is some actual stimulating gameplay.

[GamingIVfun]

@Majista-Ludi

I would have to care about you or what you think to call you about anything. There are more people that think this game is good and worth playing than there are people that don't, Then we have hate mongers that haven't even played it, the same ones that tend to call people that have played it and like it, sheep. If you didn't buy it or play it why spend so much energy hating on it.

The opinion that the game is good is just as valid as the opinion that the game is bad. The hate mongering is way beyond unreasonable people. It's pretty much common knowledge that games when shown at conferences are works in progress, all of them. They always have disclaimers telling people the games are a work in progress and may not represent the final product.

The people that fuss and moan about a game after pre ordering and buying the game have yourselves to blame. A game is not final until it is released, especially with nearly every game having a large day one patch when released. The biggest complaint is that Sean Murray was being vague about the game , if you felt that way, why buy the game before you were sure what the game would be like.

Being super negative about everything, feeling entitled, fussing about something you haven't experienced yourself, being a brat, Is not cool.

[JasonKCK]

When you repeatedly tell people something that turns out to be not true, that is a lie. This should be unacceptable everywhere.

[yarbie1000]

Lie: Saying things that aren't true

To answer your question. YES

[uth11]

Lie: Saying things YOU ARE AWARE aren't true

In 2014 he can't possibly know what he'd be forced to cut from release in 2016 due to time constraints. So not a lie.

[WilliamSheridan]

That's true. However since people completely combed through the code, it was discovered there was never any multiplayer in the game. So it wasn't cut, it simply never existed.

[FunAndGun]

well, he had PLENTY of time to correct his untruths before launch. He could have told the community what wasn't able to be completed before launch...pretty simple really.

[Artemidorus]

So you work for Hello Games and confirm that very statement or are you waffling on?

[spoilerjerk]

But the game started out a lie... THIS never existed... https://youtu.be/nLtmEjqzg7...

[Kurdishcurse]

Do you own sony shares or something? Will you lose money if you just accept the truth in this situation? Stop being so apologetic just to spare your own ego. Stop supporting this venom by excusing their behavior. They lied. fans fell for it. Accept the facts and move on.

And now hello games should be berated and embarrassed by the gaming community to put them in their place, not make excuses for them. Eitherway, hello games are in a minefield right now. Chances are they wont be making any moves from fear of explosion.

[uth11]

just because multiplayer isn't in the final build doesn't mean it hasn't been coded and removed. I think that's a feature likely to show up in a patch, simply because they said so much about it, but it will probably be done Journey or Dark Souls style where you can see players but not interact.

[Rachel_Alucard]

@uth

You're out of your mind if you think multiplayer is as simple as adding a patch. The only thing they can do is make NMS 2 and create it then. If you've ever worked in game development (which most haven't on here) you'd know that something as massive as multiplayer would require rewriting the entire game from scratch in order to create. That means time and resources would have to satisfy the outcome which at this point is impossible with the botched publicity and Molyneux-like behavior of Sean. You're better off waiting for NMS2 at this point to get what everyone wants, cause it sure ain't coming in a patch in this one.

[EpicSandwich]

Watch angry joes review he highlighted all the lies

[phantomexe]

You clearly as usually can't be objective .

[2cents]

I watched that and have to say he had some really good points.

I love and hate the game at the same time.

[ChrisW]

Angry Joe made some excellent points, but to be honest, I think I understand what has happened here. While Hello Games is the Developer and Publisher, they were forced by the Distributor to release the game before many of the things could actually be properly implemented.

[-Foxtrot]

Well compare one past trailer to what we have

Says it all really.

Then there's all the cut content that's been listed

[killer876]

Plus he blatantly lied on interviews while acting like he was playing a pre recorded video

LOL

[Perjoss]

Spoiler warnng! Even though there is literally nothing to spoil...

I love this game and have a ton of hours played, but yes Sean did blatantly lie when he said there is something amazing at the center of the universe, there is nothing there and nothing actually happens. I can forgive all the missing features as I'm still having fun exploring, but what he said simply wasn't true.

[killer876]

you forgave all those missing features

this right here is true denial

[Rachel_Alucard]

You have post purchase rationalization like many others who can't just admit a bad buy and instead enable the people who spit on your purchase to continue doing so. While you personally enjoy it, ignoring all the lies is just allowing other people like Sean to continue running in the market and making bank from overpromising and lying with no correction until after release. The free market should police itself better to avoid products like this, but unfortunately it can't with people that forgive and forget, despite never even meeting the people behind it.

[Perjoss]

This is not the case at all, just before NMS landed I was huge into Fallout 4 and Overwatch but I haven't been able to put NMS down since it came out even though I'm also really looking forward to going back to those other games. I play what I enjoy or do you really think that I'm playing a game out of stubbornness? because that's ridiculous.

[Rachel_Alucard]

@Perjoss

I'm not criticizing you playing the game. I'm criticizing you on saying its ok for Sean to over promise and under deliver. Your giving postive feedback on a product that laundered itself on marketing only and got away with doing exactly what the free market is supposed to fight against. Most people bought No mans sky under the idea of all these things that had been shown off touted in various trailers and interviews. To ignore all these falsities and give a thumbs up to Sean just because one aspect is enjoyable is everything wrong with today's market. People can't show negativity toward a bad product they bought.

[killer876]

Does a bear sh!t in the woods?

[babadivad]

It doesn't shit on a sand planet.

[CrimsonWing69]

Well they sure didn't give us the game they kept promising...so not sure what you'd call that.

[babadivad]

Deceit.

[Pledius]

Definitely flat out LIED on some things like how you'll be able to see other players. And that's just from top of my head from seeing his interviews.

I hope there will be classaction lawsuit against this company. I was gonna pre order through steam but the better part of me told me never never pre order

[Nineball2112]

Based on everything I've seen, I'd say yes... He lied.

[mogwaii]

His body language in all those interviews when asked speccific questions and explaining certain things was a dead give away but i was carried away in believing this game was going to be everything, more the fool me. The man is a flat out LIAR!

[Artemidorus]

Yes they did, quoted differently right at the end to cover themselves but if you watch the journey of this game, many features are missing with a gaming rating changed.

Anyone with a brain can see what happened.

[Nineball2112]

Also, according to this video, he admits that he lied:

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Ristul]

lol...

[Der_Kommandant]

I'm crying!

[Dan_scruggs]

He flat out said multiple times that you CAN run into other players. You can't. So he lied. It's pretty simple.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

i don't think anything was meant to be a blatant lie, but things were definitely taken out of the game.

[spoilerjerk]

They were deliberately coy and misleading throughout the entire development process starting from the very first trailer to launch... The game they showed never existed... https://youtu.be/nLtmEjqzg7...

[ALICE666]

I am glad I saved myself $60 with this pile of turd. Everything just felt wrong with the game up until this point with all the vagueness.. now if you go back and watch all the old interviews, he just seems super shady in the way he talks and acts... I thought he was shy at the time.. but now I know why he was that way.. he's been lying through his ass the whole time... can't believe I didn't pick up on it then.

[phantomexe]

They never lied the mutiplayer he compareing to games like bloodborn,dark souls and journey. You were never going see full on deathmatch or coop. You can't fix stupidity i guess. Next time research your game and don't duh out.

[Imalwaysright]

He said that we could play with our friends. He also said that there would be a competitive element in NMS.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Funny. I say that he is a liar and apparently you are also saying that he is a liar because he did say that his game would have MP even if the chances to find other players blah blah...

Also, I never played Journey so I won't speak about it but Souls games don't just have online connectivity. You CAN'T stop other people from invading your world. When you sign in to Souls games servers, you are signing in to a MP "universe". Souls games are full on MP games.

[SmokingMonkey]

Do McDonald's hamburgers look like the picture?

Welcome to the year 2016 people, do your research before buying anything.

[Imalwaysright]

They did. They listened to Sean's words, watched the trailers and "live" gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

It's not their fault that the man is a liar. Fool me once...

[zodiac909]

People really need to stop bitching about this game.

[Nathan_Hale53]

Yes.

[alfcrippinjr]

there a lot of websites trolling this game big time for some reason is someone paying them
for it to fail

lets say all games company lie about there game it called in the industry bait
games change from release date of is not the finish product.

this game is a exploring game you land on a planet and you explore it total
you dont land look around and take off to another one.

most people are not doing any exploring they trying to get right to the end

this game is good

[ZlatanOfSiege]

Short answer YES, Malicious or NOT! Because technically they did and thats fact.

[JasonKCK]

They cashed in on false hype and pulled in a big score. Even with the big drop off they have enough for DLC.

[Davemyrose592]

To sum it shortly yes after seeing every pre release trailer there are wayyyyy to many features missing I was really hoping to O see some giant creatures , I got to the center of the Galexy and the largest species I saw was about 15 ft

[Tedakin]

I think the bigger issue is their dead silence since the game came out. They haven't really acknowledged the massive amount of missing content, and obviously it's been a front and center issue in gaming the last 2 weeks. They're straight up ignoring it making themselves looking even more shady.

[sizeofyou]

Is Donald Trump lying? Did David Cameron lie? Do all world leaders lie? Economists? Estate Agents? Papers? Magazines?
Do Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo lie? Will EA, Ubi, TTI or any other publisher lie?
Is it lies or 'economies of truth'. Is it ambition outweighing reality? Is it interpretation? Is it expectation? Is it lies about lies?

Yawn.

[kraenk12]

Does every advertisement lie?!

Thank you

Hypocrites all over the place.

[kraenk12]

I hope everyone of you gets enraged the same way next time his burger doesn't look like the one advertised at McDonalds.

[sampson3121]

does it really matter at this point? we have a ton of MP games that look and play the same. should he have said that it's possible to meet other players in this almost infinite universe? no. But to act as if it would have made a difference when the universe has 18 Quintilian planets is ridiculous. try working out the odds of one player finding another in a universe this large, unless Hello Games intended it yo be easy to find a friend. it's obvious that they intended this game to be a personal experience, he even said so at one point.

should people call out his lie? yes, but the gaming community has become a playground full of whinny entitled brats that sit on their asses and cry about every little thing. most of the complainers haven't even played the game.

I've noticed when most streamers are asked " what do you think about the game?" they say that "they like it" yet people do all they can to go out of their way to bash the game on their twitch stream. IF YOU DON'T LIKE SOMETHING, GO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO! or go , get off your ass, and make your own game.

people talk about how empty the game is, ever watch a stream of Star Citizen? and you think No Man's Sky is devoid of life. lol.

[Blu3_Berry]

Yes he did lie, and honestly i bet alot of it was from pressure on Sony. He was also extremely vague and did not clear things up so I partly blame him.

[sampson3121]

you have no proof that sony pressured anyone. so how can you "partly blame" anyone? from what I've read almost every dev that has worked with sony say they're great when it comes to giving some leeway with their games, especially indie devs.

why even say something like?

[Blu3_Berry]

Well if I were in that position getting alot of support from sony, I would feel very nervous especially if my project was very ambitious. Being in the spotlight under Sony cannot be easy. I didn't particularly mean that sony is giving them lots of pressure, but maybe they felt pressured unconsciously being under a big name with eyes all over you from the audience. Maybe he couldn't handle it and started making lies up. I could be completely wrong.