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No Man’s Sky was nearly cancelled

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No Man’s Sky from Hello Games is one of the most anticipated games coming this year. Set to hit shelves and digital storefronts next month, the enigmatic game is so huge in scope that it’s got the gaming public entranced.

And it was almost cancelled. No Man’s Sky was officially announced at VGX in 2013. That nearly didn’t happen.

“It was a couple of weeks later and it was Christmas Eve and we were all off from work and the whole office flooded. I think we hadn’t announced the game because I nearly backed out of [VGX 2013]. I think we might have just canned No Man’s Sky because we would have been feeling really unsure it. When we were trying to back out of it, we were like what have we been doing?” Hello Games’ Sean Murray told IGN (via Examiner).

If you’ll recall, shortly after that announcement Hello Game’s Studio flooded, nearly taking No Man’s Sky with it.

“It’s an awkward thing because we obviously had some backups and things like that, but you lose a lot of work and you couldn’t talk about that because generally, we had just announced, people would have been angry [about cancelling the game]. People don’t understand that obviously you’re a small team,” Murray said.

“We came back into the studio Christmas Day and the whole team had kind of reassembled. I’m going to say that the flood was a really good thing that happened to us. We had this thing where we had a team of 10 and there were four people who had gone off into a room and done this thing and six people who kind of watched and [weren’t] as involved. Some of them would have felt the same way we did, which is they would have seen the No Man’s Sky trailer just before it went out at the VGXs and thought, ‘I’m not sure how this is going to go down,'” Murray said.

The flood was obviously a setback, but it was just the thing that the two teams Hello Games needed to come together.

“Then when we came back we were like everyone needs to work on this, we need to ramp up the team. We all want to be working on this. It was a weird thing for [the other six people because they hadn’t been involved]…I think the two teams had diverged a little bit. We had a bunch of experiences that they hadn’t and they had a bunch of experiences that we hadn’t had.

“[We] needed a bonding thing and that’s what happened. All of us reassembled to throw out everything in the office, all our old equipment and build all new PCs. We ended up in this tiny little room with 10 of us crammed in there on makeshift desks…There were computer parts everywhere (laughs). It was really bonding. I remember saying to the team, ‘yes this is crappy, but imagine what it’s going to be like when we walk out on stage at E3 and we show the game in its fullest,'” Murray said.

No Man’s Sky is finally coming to the PS4 and PC on June 21, 2016.

Last Updated: May 6, 2016

32 Comments

  1. Raptor Rants

    May 6, 2016 at 15:02

    In other news. My heart almost stopped. Sheesh. DON’T DO THAT!!!

    Reply

  2. Kromas untamed

    May 6, 2016 at 15:03

    Still very unsure about this game.

    Reply

    • Raptor Rants

      May 6, 2016 at 15:04

      Day 1! Well not really I don’t do day 1. But if I was the kind to do day 1 this would be that game

      Reply

      • Pariah

        May 6, 2016 at 15:04

        Day 4 for me. That’ll be pay day. 😛

        Reply

        • Raptor Rants

          May 6, 2016 at 15:05

          Kaching!

          Reply

        • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

          May 6, 2016 at 15:05

          Day one after reviews, still think it sounds too good to be true

          Reply

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 15:06

            I’m actually going to steer away from reviews here. I think this is the kind of game that’s really personal and can’t be judged by someone else’s experience of it. No review is purely technical or objective, and for me I think that’s what is most appealing about this game. It’s that personal journey.

          • Raptor Rants

            May 6, 2016 at 15:13

            agreed

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 15:17

            Agreed fully, it’s just that I have this nagging suspicion and I don’t want to dive head first into a game like I did with the Division

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 15:18

            This isn’t a Ubicrap game though.

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 6, 2016 at 15:19

            No, no it’s not. It’s someone who’s only other game was Joe Danger

          • Pariah

            May 6, 2016 at 15:22

            Generally favourable reviews though, so it’s not like they did that Biker game from hell.

          • Jaerz

            May 6, 2016 at 17:38

            Except you’re wrong. Sean Murray has worked on many other titles while employed for other companies and has been programming since he was six years old.

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 9, 2016 at 07:47

            Apologies

          • EEKman

            May 6, 2016 at 21:27

            Joe Danger was really really good for what kind of game it was. Very polished.

          • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

            May 9, 2016 at 07:47

            I know, but comparing it to No Mans Sky and it’s pretty ambitious what they’re dong now.

      • VampyreSquirrel

        May 6, 2016 at 15:31

        Day 7?

        Sorry 🙁 I couldn’t help it

        Reply

    • TedTheAtheist

      May 7, 2016 at 08:55

      I’m unsure about this game because it doesn’t have crafting and base building. How lame is that?

      Reply

  3. Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

    May 6, 2016 at 15:04

  4. Pariah

    May 6, 2016 at 15:04

    I think they can all pat themselves on the back. Cannot wait for this, they can take my money, and can be proud of what they’ve accomplished.

    Reply

  5. RinceThis

    May 6, 2016 at 15:16

    So excited!

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      May 6, 2016 at 15:17

      To finally find your home planet?

      Reply

      • Pariah

        May 6, 2016 at 15:18

        LOL!!!!

        Reply

      • RinceThis

        May 6, 2016 at 15:23

        Don’t be silly. This game only has like 155000000000000000000 permutations. No way my home is among those!

        Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        May 6, 2016 at 17:04

        Aren’t you excited for him to get lost in space?

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

          May 9, 2016 at 07:47

          LOL!

          Reply

  6. Jonah Cash

    May 6, 2016 at 15:26

    Can this game be played co-op? Like me and someone explore together and see the same planet and then one leaves and you just continue exploring on your own? Or is this game purely single player?

    Reply

    • Pariah

      May 6, 2016 at 15:28

      I think if you give co-ordinates you’ll probably be able to explore together, but I don’t know details.

      Reply

      • Aries

        May 7, 2016 at 02:20

        you get to name the planet or star system so that can be a way point

        Reply

    • Raptor Rants

      May 6, 2016 at 15:30

      From the stuff I read it’s possible but you need to find each other. So if I find a planet for example that planet generates for anyone else to discover if they go to the same co-ordinates. So in theory you should be able to join up with someone to co-op. It may just be difficult.

      Reply

  7. Sageville

    May 6, 2016 at 15:58

    But that flood was old news…

    Reply

  8. Khul

    May 6, 2016 at 17:41

    Steam says it gets released 24th June…. What am I missing? Is the 21st June only in US and 24 EU(aka us)?

    Reply

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