After gaining significant interest after being shown off back at E3 2014, No Man"s Sky got off to a rocky start. Some of this has manifested in ongoing technical issues such as a random drop in frames per second (FPS) which can only be corrected by restarting the game.
However, a significant amount of backlash against the No Man"s Sky has revolved around the perception that the game had been pushed with hype, false advertising and empty promises. Vocal gamers, disgruntled and upset with the situation, ended up being able to obtain refunds for game purchases on PC.
Three weeks later, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida has provided his take on the situation. Having played No Man"s Sky before and after its launch, he said that he "could see the struggle for the developers to get the game out in the state that they wanted."
Most critically, Yoshida acknowledged disappointment from gamers, and said:
I understand some of the criticisms especially Sean Murray is getting, because he sounded like he was promising more features in the game from day one.
It wasn"t a great PR strategy, because he didn"t have a PR person helping him, and in the end he is an indie developer. But he says their plan is to continue to develop No Man"s Sky features and such, and I"m looking forward to continuing to play the game.
Despite these comments, owners of the digital version of No Man"s Sky on PlayStation 4 are still unable to obtain a refund according to a statement provided by Sony to some players of the game.