Summary
Hello Games newly announced gameLight No Fireis even more ambitious thanNo Man’s Sky,and fans would be wise to keep a particular lesson from the sprawling space sim in the back of their minds.No Man’s Skydidn’t quite live up to the hypeHello Games generated for it at launch, andLight No Firecould fall into the same trap, but there is good reason to be hopeful for the upcoming planet-sized game.
It’s understandable that certainfans might have their reservations aboutLight No Fire. There have been more than a few games that have promised sprawling worlds, only to end up being sterile and uninteresting. The scale ofLight No Fireis unprecedented, but there is at least one good reason to have hope for Hello Games' next big project.
No Man’s Sky Has Received Many Large Content Updates
Hello Games has spared no effort updating and expanding the world ofNo Man’s Sky. The small development team could have tucked its proverbial tail between its legs and walked away, leavingNo Man’s Skya disappointing and boring mess. Instead, the team worked hard and delivered update after update, eventually makingNo Man’s Skya redemption story for the ages. Hello Games has not hung up its hat on the game either; fans can probably expect at least a few more substantial updates before the team shifts its focus toLight No Fire.
Light No Firehas been in development for around five years, and fans can probably be cautiously optimistic about it. Hello Games founder Sean Murray probably knows better than anyone not to make promises he and his team can’t keep, especially on such a platform as The Game Awards which gathers millions of viewers every year.
It was no major secret thatHello Gameshad something big in the oven, but Sean has been reluctant to talk about it until now. The very fact that Hello Games redeemed itself is almost unprecedented in the world of gaming; most disappointing games remain disappointing, despite the developers' best efforts. It’s incredibly difficult for a poorly received game to recover from a bad launch, and Hello Games clearly does not want to endure that particular uphill battle a second time.
Hello Games Is Relentlessly Passionate
Light No Fireis probably at least a couple of years away, but it is certain thatHello Games is going to handle its launch with the utmost care. The company certainly doesn’t want to end up treading the same path where it puts itself under pressure by prematurely announcing a release date.No Man’s Skywas delayed by a few months, resulting in massive backlash. This is pure speculation, but the disastrous launch might have been partially due to the company not wanting to anger fans by delaying the game further. Hello Games put itself in between the rock of player expectations and the hard place of its own shortcomings. This time, it’s unlikely that aLight No Firerelease date will be forthcoming until the team is confident that the new game is ready.
In 2023,No Man’s Skyis almost unrecognizablewhen compared to the release version. There have been over 30 significant named updates, and many smaller ones in between. It has been ported to various new platforms, received graphical facelifts, and just about everything else one can think of. This alone should be enough to convince fans ofLight No Firethat it will receive similar support for many years after it is eventually released. While it seems appropriate to remain cautiously optimistic aboutLight No Fire,even if it isn’t everything it could be at launch.
No Man’s Sky
WHERE TO PLAY
Lose yourself in a vast sci-fi odyssey as you explore a near-infinite, procedurally generated universe. Set out from the edge of the Euclid galaxy and carve out your own interstellar existence in a vast universe teeming with life, danger and near-endless mystery. No Man’s Sky is a hugely-ambitious, heavily-stylised, sci-fi adventure that spans entire galaxies all brought to life with procedural generation. Travel through an endless array of increasingly diverse and dangerous star systems, prospecting for rare materials, trading with alien life, populate planets and searching for clues to the meaning of the universe’s mysterious existence. How you survive is up to you. Assemble entire fleets of dreadnought-class freighters and tear across the universe; build sprawling habitable bases across planet surfaces, beneath the ground or under the ocean; buy and upgrade your own weapons and star ships and do battle with outlaw space pirates, hostile alien fauna or the mysterious sentinel fleets. The universe is yours to explore - trillions upon trillions of planets, waiting to be discovered.
