Why No Man's Sky Dropped Multiplayer
By Boston Blake 27 August 2016
During an interview just prior to the release of No Man’s Sky, Hello Games CEO offered some thoughts as to why the game doesn’t have traditional multiplayer.
It’s no secret that No Man’s Sky received extremely mixed reviews when it launched earlier this month. One of the most heavily criticized aspects of the space exploration game is the lack of multiplayer. For months, players were looking forward to the opportunity to search out their friends and connect in the wide expanse of the galaxy. However, that dream was quickly shot down when, on the day of release, players in the game realized that despite being in the same place on the same planet, they were unable to see each other.
The lack of multiplayer in No Man’s Sky has been hotly discussed on social media and forums since the game’s release. Some claim Hello Games’ CEO Sean Murray confirmed multiplayer shortly before release, even showing video proof, while others maintain that Murray never actually confirmed its inclusion.
In an effort to help dispel the confusion, one Redditor was able to uncover and share an interview Murray did with Games.ch just a few days before No Man’s Sky released. During the interview, Murray discussed many features in the game, including multiplayer. And while Murray never comes right out and says there is no multiplayer, he does allude to the fact that players won’t be able to actually find each other in the game. Here’s the quote from Murray about multiplayer, which can be found starting at the 8:00 mark in the video:
It’s not really a multiplayer game, that’s not really the way to think about it. There are infinitesimal chances, very, very small chances of you even coming across a place that another player has been to . . . The most likely thing that is going to happen is you are going to come across a planet and some other players has been there and they’ve named that planet and the creatures, and I’m sure they’ve given it a good name.
As mentioned above, Murray didn’t provide a clear-cut answer to the multiplayer question, at least at the time. With the clarity of playing the game, fans can now understand how Murray’s words confirm there is no actual multiplayer in No Man’s Sky, but at the time, his response to the question was a bit ambiguous.
It’s unknown why Murray didn’t come right out and say there is no multiplayer in the game, and let potential players know they would be unable to find each other in the galaxy. It’s possible he was worried about gamer backlash or the potential for lost sales. Despite the reasons, Murray’s cryptic responses, even the one in the above video, obviously weren’t enough to dispel rumors of multiplayer in No Man’s Sky, and thus the current contention lives on. Hopefully, Murray and Hello Games will learn from the plethora of unfavorable videos and reviews about the game, as well as the significant drop in sales in the game’s second week.
Fortunately, it looks like despite the omission of multiplayer, No Man’s Sky players still have a lot to look forward to. Hello Games is committed to releasing numerous free DLCs and updates to enhance the experience for gamers and allow the expansive galaxy to live on for months, and maybe even years, to come.
What do you think about Murray’s comments in the above interview? Did he satisfy the question about multiplayer, or was it not enough?
No Man’s Sky is available now for PC and PlayStation 4.
Source: GAMES.CH – YouTube (via Reddit)
