Prior to its release, No Man's Sky is one of the highly anticipated titles. Many were just hyped, as they hope for the game to bring something new to the table. However, as soon as its release date arrived, the momentum gradually shifted. People are stating that it was falsely advertised, as features -- seen in the demos released by Hello Games -- weren't even in the actual game. Heck, the studio was even bugged by an investigation courtesy of the advertising watchdogs ASA (Advertising Standards Authority). In one way or another, indie devs can learn a thing or two -- or even four -- from all the troubles that NMS has suffered.
Veer Away From Promises You Can't Keep
This is definitely one of the biggest mistakes Hello Games did to the whole No Man's Sky community. Truth is, the final game, as mentioned above, didn't arrive with most of the features advertised or promised. Heck, even those things that were fairly teased to its release date didn't come. From naming ships to factions to multiplayer, Hello Games has absolutely missed these.
Release Dates Are Important -- Very Important
It's no secret that No Man's Sky heavily suffered from delays, something that birthed to negative perception in the community from the get-go. It was said to be available in June, only to be pushed back to August. Obviously, for the fans, this kind of thing doesn't just sit well to them. In fact, this had resulted to a couple of death threats -- let alone that it fueled concerns, as fans thought that the game was in a serious crisis.
Communication Is Key
Before and shortly after the release of No Man's Sky, the whole team of Hello Games -- most especially Sean Murray, the creator -- were all over social media sites. They answer questions after questions, while making certain that fans are well-covered. Unfortunately, as soon as issues started rising, the communication that was once structured started to collapse. Even to this day, the studio has yet to give out any official word as to why the title became such a mess. Sure, they might have released an update in their website sometime in September; however, that was it. Murray, in particular, wasn't as communicative as he was before. For an indie studio like HG, this is certainly not doing them any good. Consumers are entitled to such after all.
Triple-A Marketing Is Quite Risky
Many doubted the potentials of No Man's Sky being a Triple-A title, given the fact that it was developed by an indie video game company. However, with the help of tech giant Sony, such feat became light. Nevertheless, with such product tag, it's only safe for gamers to think of the game as a huge title in the making. After all, it's deemed as a Triple-A product. Sadly, though the potentials might be there, it didn't end up as it was meant to be.
What are your thoughts on No Man's Sky? How about the aforementioned lessons indie developers can acquire from it? Tell us what you think at the comment section below!