We are but a few short days away from No Man's Sky's inaugural flight to Switch on October 7th and we are buckling in to see how this massive game plays on Nintendo's comparatively tiny console.
In order to put some of our fears to rest, we recently got the chance to sit down with the game's creator, Sean Murray, and talk about all things No Man's Sky. The conversation ranged from the difficulties of the Switch port to which Nintendo character Murray would most like to add into the game - make sure to check out our full interview to read all of Murray's insights.
Naturally, our chat turned to the future of No Man's Sky, and Hello Games' business model in particular. For the past six years, the game has been in an almost constant state of development. Rather than turning to microtransactions or DLC, No Man's Sky requires a singular one-off payment with the promise that the development team will provide regular improvements via free updates.
With the title expanding to more and more platforms, it would make sense if Hello Games was to change its business model to move with the times and include other revenue streams. It seems, however, that we can rest easy on this one. Asked if this shift is a reasonable prospect, Murray put us at ease with the following response:
Lots of people tell us that there is this alternative business model or that alternative business model and there probably is; but we're enjoying this right now, we really enjoy working on the game and we have got this really positive, welcoming community that I really get a buzz out of making updates for and continuing to tend to that game.
This is, of course, not to belittle other titles which utilise microtransactions or paid DLC as their central revenue stream. Sharing his love for Fortnite and Rocket League, Murray clarified that he is by no means against the practice of this approach, but No Man's Sky won't be going there any time soon:
It is cool that they can do that, it's great, but that's not what we're doing, it's just different. It's probably really naive, but it's what we're doing and there's historical reasons why we got into it, more purposeful reasons why we really think that it's the right model for us at the moment.
It's safe to say that No Man's Sky's Switch release won't see the game changing up its player-developer relationship for the time being. For more on Murray's visions for Hello Games' future and all things space exploration (of the virtual kind, of course), be sure to check out our full interview.
If you are eager to find out just how well No Man's Sky will play on the Nintendo console then you are in luck! We recently got the opportunity to go hands-on with the game and our lovely video producer, Alex Olney, has shared his thoughts in a new video. There's also a short amount of b-roll gameplay footage for you to tuck into while you wait, so there's no excuse not to fly into October 7th fully prepared!
Are you hopeful for No Man's Sky on Switch? Blast off into the comments and let us know!
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Comments 19
If you don't want to belittle games that use microtransactions, I'll totally do it for you! No charge!
This game really made a comeback, and in all the right ways. It’s such an enjoyable game, and even if you don’t plan to play survivor mode, creative is always there for you just to, explore till your little heart can’t do it no more!
This game had a better comeback than Kim Kardashian!
This is the game to point to when games like ark release big chunks of game at premium dlc price and argue that they had to in order to pay for development..: while they are releasing arguably either equal of greater expansions for completely free in No Mans Sky at a quicker pace then the expensive expansions of Ark.
Heck yeah, respect to them for not including this horrible stuff.
I’m glad they were able to make the game on their own terms.
@Pat_trick ...she had a comeback?
I still hope Samus' ship and power suit are included in the switch version.
@Agent_P Well, on her video she had...nevermind
What a weird thing to say. Very apples to oranges comparing free games to full price ones.
That's like a chicken meat company saying "we're glad to not kill pigs!" for no reason at all except to get some pats on the back from the pork lovers.
I see that tactic is already working here though.
@SteamEngenius not really a weird comparison. There are literally paid games that has those models too.
@Arawn93 Take FIFA, for instance.
Never played ot always wished..
Wow, what an absolute saint! He's against Micro transactions because he's SO PRO GAMER!
I mean, no problem with spending 3 years hyping features for an upcoming game that he had no intention of ever delivering, showing off demo builds of the game at cons that had gameplay, graphics and features that were not in the release build, lying to literally everyone he talked to for half a decade, or releasing an unplaying piece of garbage and refusing any refunds because it "was going to get better". But all is forgiven!
For the most hateful group of rage-monsters alive, gamers sure have a short memory. This game in its current state is quite good, but it's still missing like HALF the features promised in the 2016 release.
This is the industry practice we should toss copious amounts of money at. The atrocious ones existing today thrive not because they're amazing practices, but because too many gamers blindly encourage and enable them through their billfolds.
@Pat_trick A reference to the greatest sitcom outtake ever? Good show sir.
@HeadPirate Give it a rest, nobody cares.
@SteamEngenius ? You've... totally missed the entire point of the interview. But carry on.
@HeadPirate Oh get over yourself, honestly, move on - they have and pretty much everyone else has...
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