Did Hello Games Abandon No Man’s Sky?

No Man’s Sky is currently the worst rated game on Steam. With over 70,000 reviews, only 11% of the reviews written within the past 30 days have been rated positive.

Despite the game’s financial success, reception towards the game has been chilly due to the developer Hello Games’ unfulfilled promises for continued updates, content, and multiplayer. The studio went silent shortly after the game’s release and hasn’t said a word about what their plans are for the game.

There have been rumors that the studio itself may have been abandoned, but there’s no evidence apart from a photograph taken on the weekend to say if that’s actually the case.

In response to these rumors, Paul Weir, the game’s audio director, said that Sean Murray is still working on the next update.

Sean is fine and we're all busy on the next patch.

— ᴘᴀᴜʟ ᴡᴇɪʀ ♫ (@earcom) October 9, 2016

When asked why Sean Murray or Hello Games remained radio silent, Weir responded that it’s up to the studio to say something and that he isn’t in any position to do so.

I'm afraid I have nothing useful to say. It's entirely up to Hello or Sean as to when they want to talk publicly.

— ᴘᴀᴜʟ ᴡᴇɪʀ ♫ (@earcom) October 9, 2016

It goes without saying that gamers who purchased No Man’s Sky are in need of some assurance that these updates are in development—not just from Weir, but from Murray himself, who lead the game’s development and controls the official social media channels.

Whether he’ll speak up remains to be seen. But things aren’t looking good.