Sean Murray

No Man's Sky has become synonymous with ambitious developer overreach, a cautionary tale of what can happen when publishers do nothing to reign in out-of-control hype. When the game was released in 2016 and failed to meet sky-high expectations set in no small part by Hello Games director Sean Murray himself, fan backlash was the stuff of legends. But ever since, the developer has set about making amends.

No Man's Sky lead Sean Murray has found himself as the unwitting face of the risk coders face from the rise of AI.

No Man's Sky remains one of the greatest comeback stories in the industry, a shaky launch entirely reversed by nearly a decade of meaningful and entirely free support. More than a dozen expansions later, however, and despite a new game on the way, game director Sean Murray is still yearning to improve the game's reputation.

No Man's Sky is barely recognizable from the game that launched all the way back in 2016. That's down to the passionate developers at Hello Games consistently updating the title with new features, quality of life improvements, and massive free expansions, turning one of the worst games of 2016 into arguably the greatest redemption story the games industry has ever seen, outside of maybe Cyberpunk 2077.

A massive new update for No Man's Sky has been released just days after it was first teased, bringing various new features that many in the game's community have been hoping to see introduced to the procedurally generated space exploration game since it was released in 2016. Called the Orbital update, version 4.6 is the second update that No Man's Sky has received so far this year, with even more set to come in 2024.

Following some cryptic Twitter teases, Hello Games has officially announced the Omega update for No Man's Sky, which finally gives players the ability to customise their ships.

Hello Games boss Sean Murray is teasing another No Man's Sky update with cryptic emojis. In two separate tweets now, Murray has shared a series of star emojis, or more specifically, the star emoji used to represent dizziness. It's not clear what that's meant to signify, but that hasn't stopped fans from guessing.

Although No Man's Sky Omega update and expedition launched just over a month ago, creator Sean Murray has already started hinting at the release of yet another new content update for the game via a series of tweets which feature a particular emoji. Following the remarkably long list of free content updates that have been released for No Man's Sky over the past seven years, it can be difficult to predict what Hello Games will add to the game next, but there are a few features that fans can definitely expect to come this year.

The latest major update for No Man's Sky introduces a new expedition-exclusive starship, which some players have realized includes an entertaining reference to the first title ever published by the game's developer, Hello Games. No Man's Sky has recently seen yet another surge in popularity following its Omega update, which adds a plethora of new features as well as a limited-time community expedition event that can even be played for free over the next few days by those who don't own the game.

Update:

No Man's Sky is free till Monday as it celebrates the launch of its Omega Expedition update, bringing quality-of-life tweaks, new content, and a completely revamped Atlas questline.

Yesterday, the newest No Man's Sky update went live on PS5, introducing a "complete overhaul" for expeditions. Bizarrely, there was no fanfare. Hello Games didn't reveal the update or give any details on what was included outside of in-game patch notes. That changed today, as founder Sean Murray officially announced Omega.

No Man's Sky's Omega update, which has just gone live on PS5, makes a number of big changes, including finally giving Expeditions a "complete overhaul".

It looks like No Man's Sky is getting some more content soon, as a new update is spotted on the Steam database. This coincides with Sean Murray cryptically tweeting a single emoji, indicating that the next update will be one of the big ones that adds a bunch of new features.

Let’s play a game. Let’s see how long I can talk about No Man’s Sky without bringing up its redemptive arc (this doesn’t count, by the way).

Fans of No Man's Sky have previously been told to expect a particularly big year ahead for the game, and creator Sean Murray has already begun teasing the release of the title's first content drop of 2024 with another mysterious post on social media. While the game has enjoyed dozens of free major updates since its controversial release in 2016, No Man's Sky saw another big year in 2023 with the Interceptor update as well as a full set of new expeditions for players to embark on.

Last month at The Game Awards we finally got our first look at Sean Murray's followup to No Man's Sky—and it's a huge one. In its next game, Light No Fire, Hello Games is trading infinite procedural planets for a single world, but that one open world is going to be the size of an actual planet.

Lego discovered gamers want their favorite characters and backdrops to be turned into toy bricks when it released its first wave of Super Mario items. Mario Lego gets new sets all the time, and in March, the first Animal Crossing sets will join them. Sonic has quickly become the video game character with the most sets after his plumbing rival, though. What started as a Lego Ideas submission has turned into an entire collection, and next month, Knuckles and Rouge will join that collection.

Seeing something from a series or franchise you love get the Lego set treatment is a pretty big deal, especially if you plan on buying those sets and building them yourself. Multiple elements from the Marvel and Star Wars universes have been turned into Lego, as has Mario and half the Mushroom Kingdom. All such big franchises that you might think since No Man's Sky isn't on that same level, it might not be considered for its very own Lego set, but that's where you're wrong.

When Valve introduced the Steam Deck, the company was adamant that its handheld gaming device was, at its core, a PC, with all the customizability and user freedom that entailed. «You shouldn't do any of this,» Valve said in a teardown video, before proceeding to show everyone how to take apart the Steam Deck. So when Valve now tells Steam Deck owners they shouldn't be sticking their noses next to the handheld's exhaust vents and taking a big, deep breath, I have to wonder if, y'know, they really mean it.

At this moment in time, No Man’s Sky is easily one of the best sandbox games around. We’re long past those dark days when the overhyped game underdelivered to the pain of waiting fans. Now, with the holiday season upon us, Hello Games is giving us one more chance to replay this year’s limited-span content.

Easily one of the most surprising announcements from this year’s The Game Awards was Light No Fire, a brand-new survival adventure game by No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games.

Hello Games, the studio behind No Man’s Sky, is directing their gaze away from the infinite promise of space in the upcoming Light No Fire, a game that promises to reproduce a single planet that dwarfs the one that we live on. That includes all the climbable mountains, some of which are “miles high, taller than Everest,” according to the project lead.

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Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red very cheekily congratulated Hello Games on the reveal of its ambitious new fantasy game Light no Fire at The Game Awards 2023, seemingly joking about the two studios' respective controversies and eventual redemption arcs.

Sean Murray of Hello Games took to the stage at The Game Awards 2023 to unveil Hello Games’ newest project, a multiplayer fantasy open-world game titled Light No Fire.

The developers of No Man's Skyhave been cooking up a new project, and it was finally revealed last night at The Game Awards.

Following the backlash No Man's Sky creator Sean Murray received when the highly ambitious spacefaring adventure didn't meet expectations at launch, you might think he'd be more cautious when drumming up hype for Hello Games' next project, but that's far from the case.

No Man's Sky developer Hello Games announced its next big project, Light No Fire, at The Game Awards 2023. While the independent Guildford-based studio stretched its legs with the cute little puzzle game The Last Campfire, this new game is perhaps even more ambitious than No Man's Sky in some respects.

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How do you follow-up a game with an entire galaxy of procedurally-generated planets? With one procedurally-generated planet, it turns out—but it's a really big one.

Following Hello Games' celebratory video commemorating 10 years since the initial No Man's Sky reveal trailer, Sean Murray had one more video for viewers of The Game Awards. The trailer showed off an all-new game called Light No Fire, which appears to be on a similar level of ambition as the universe-sprawling No Man's Sky.

By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games has announced Light No Fire, a game it’s been working on for the past five years.

Ten years after revealing No Man’s Sky at a Geoff Keighley-hosted video game awards show, Spike’s VGX Awards, Hello Games unveiled something new: Light No Fire, an original fantasy game in which players will explore an Earth-sized planet in an experience that the studio says will marry the depth of a role-playing game with the freedom of a survival sandbox game.

No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games has been dedicated to expanding and improving the space survival game ever since its launch nearly a decade ago, and while those updates will continue in the foreseeable future, the studio has other things it’s been working on as well. At The Game Awards, Hello Games founder and boss Sean Murray took the stage to unveil Light No Fire, the studio’s next game, which he says is going to be just as massive and ambitious as No Man’s Sky, echoing previous similar statements.

Ten years ago, at Geoff Keighley's awards show (then known as the VGX Awards), the development team at Hello Games revealed No Man's Sky. The ambitious space-exploration title promised a universe of possibilities and has since become the poster child for bouncing back from a challenging launch period.

No Man's Sky has earned yet another accolade for its longevity - it's won the "Still Playing" award at the Golden Joystick Awards powered by Intel. 

Over on the No Man's Sky subreddit, fans think they've uncovered a little nod to the game in Starfield. Given how similar the two are - what with you flying across the stars to map procedurally generated planets where you can set up shop and gather resources - an easter egg like this makes sense.

Hello Games has revealed that No Man's Sky has had its most successful month in years across all platforms.

Starfield’s success might be making headlines lately, but another space game also seems to be reaping the benefits of Bethesda’s much-anticipated sci-fi epic: No Man’s Sky.

No Man's Sky has been spitting out cosmic adventures for seven years and, despite not meeting expectations at launch, has evolved into an incredibly varied sandbox thanks to Hello Games' fantastic post-launch support. With free, expansion-sized updates coming out every year, it keeps beckoning players back.

Before Starfield, there was No Man’s Sky. The universe exploration title from Hello Games went through a tumultuous launch, but is celebrated these days. In fact, it looks as though it’s experiencing its biggest uptick in a while.

Following a few cryptic emoji posts on social media from Hello Games’ Sean Murray, The Echoes update has been simultaneously revealed and released. This update introduces a lot of new content, from robotic races and pirate frigates that can be obliterated to a new Expedition and the Voltaic Staff.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that No Man’s Sky came out seven years ago! What was once the most controversial game in recent history (with accusations of false advertising thrown about) is easily now one of the best sci-fi games of the previous (or even current) generation. And now even more content is on the way.

Well, now we feel really old. No Man's Sky, Hello Games' massively successful sci-fi sandbox, celebrates its seventh anniversary this month. It goes without saying that the game has changed and improved immeasurably since its launch in 2016. Looking back on that journey, the developer has put together the above video — ending with a tease for what's next.

Somewhat alarmingly, No Man's Sky is now seven years old, and developer Hello Games is celebrating the exploratory space sim's latest milestone with a brisk video retrospective and, probably of far more interest to fans, the tiniest of teases for the game's next update. Really, it's just the name they've announced, so don't get your hopes up.

Hello Games is celebrating the seventh anniversary of No Man's Sky by looking back to the many updates released post-launch and also by teasing the next update, ECHOES. Here's the message Hello Games Founder Sean Murray wanted to share with the No Man's Sky community:

No Man's Sky Echoes, the next update for Hello Games' spacefaring phenomenon, has been teased in a short video put together by the studio to celebrate the game's seventh anniversary.