No Man’s Sky was one of the most highly anticipated titles for years, and had many gamers anxiously awaiting its release. However, the illusion was shattered when it was revealed to be one of the most disappointing games in recent history. It sparked not only a massive rush for refund requests but was also slapped with an Overwhelmingly Negative status on Steam for reviews.
However, despite its massive fall from grace, No Man’s Sky was a commercial success for developer Hello Games, at least according to Steam’s list of best selling games. All the hype and excitement around the game helped drive some impressive pre-order and first day sales. This is likely how the game climbed to the “Platinum” tier of best sellers on Steam.
Once players actually got a chance to play the game, they discovered it was severely lacking a majority of the features that were promised by the developed. Sales plummeted and, no surprise, haven’t recovered since.
While the game made very strong initial sales, the shortcomings of the game have severely impacted future sales, as well as any upcoming titles from its developer.
In addition, a lot of the year’s most popular games surprisingly do not rank very high on Steam’s best sellers list. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare barely made Bronze, despite it being a top selling game in both November and December 2016.
Watch Dogs 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Skyrim all made Silver. DOOM and Stardew Valley both made Gold. Rounding out the lineup is Rocket League and No Man’s Sky, which both reached Platinum.