What is the mark of a true game developer? That question is far more complex than you might think, for just making a video game and getting it to release can make you one, and making a great one every time can make you legendary. However, another key thing that developers and publishers must learn to do is “take one on the chin” and then keep pushing forward so you can achieve your vision. No Man’s Sky by Hello Games is the perfect example of that, as that team went from “Cloud 9” to the “bottomless deaths” in about a week when their game initially launched.
The title was promised by the team to be one of the “biggest things ever,” and that was only true in the literal sense; for there was a rather massive universe full of planets to explore. The problem was that the content itself was rather lame, and the game crashed hard. That being said, the team at Hello Games didn’t give up on themselves or their title and kept pushing forward by making new content and fixing what was there.
Fast forward nine years, and the game has become something that gamers can count on for meaningful updates and content expansions. Last week, one such update dropped, and when it arrived, a swarm of players came to No Man’s Sky to play it. If you don’t believe us, believe the words of Hello Games head Sean Murray, who posted a screenshot of the player count on Steam during the launch day:
If you look at the SteamDB page for the game, you’ll see that this spike is truly meaningful, as this is the most players that have played the game all at once since the title’s launch in August 2016. There have been natural peaks and valleys over the last several years, but this proves that gamers truly enjoy this title and know they can count on Hello Games to keep making the game fun and add even more depth. The newest update allows players to get ships that they can customize fully and even bring other players on board!
Oh, and remember, the game is on PC and console, so it’s very likely that the player count is much higher.
It must be truly liberating for Hello Games to see these numbers and hear the response to them. Plus, we can confirm that the number didn’t immediately drop off, as today, about 75K are playing on Steam.