No Man's Sky

[Jtbrig7390]

Sony's statement about Hello Games/NMS.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...on-no-mans-sky

Shuhei Yoshida, the popular president of Sony's Worldwide Studios, has said he understands why some fans were critical of controversial space survival sim No Man's Sky - and blamed Hello Games' pre-release PR strategy for building up unrealistic expectations.

Disgruntled gamers complained about the absence of features and functionality in the final release that development chief Sean Murray had previously referred to in interviews and previews, ranging from multiplayer mechanics to the complexity of its combat and trading systems.

Speaking to Eurogamer at the Tokyo Game Show, Shuhei Yoshida said: "I had the opportunity to play the game right before launch - and I restarted playing the game on launch day with the Day One patch - so I could see the struggle for the developers to get the game out in the state that they wanted."

Yoshida said that personally, he "really enjoyed" playing No Man's Sky but could appreciate why others might not feel the same way.

"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."

As Sony told Eurogamer when we reported on concern around No Man's Sky's reported use of a patented superfomula, Hello Games was the developer of the game and the publisher of the PlayStation 4 digital and PC versions. But Sony was the publisher and distributor of the Blu-ray disc version of the game, so perhaps it shares some of the responsibility.

Some disgruntled No Man's Sky players have turned to Sony for refunds. Eurogamer reported on the refund situation with No Man's Sky last month, but since then more customers have contacted us to say Sony has denied them a refund, alongside what looks like a generic statement staff have been instructed to relay to customers.

Here's the statement, which three No Man's Sky players have sent to Eurogamer. It outlines Sony's current position on the state of the game and its development process.

[Coldkil]

So basically Sony enterd the picture after all the hype HG generated, made them rush even faster for a release (due to the obvious issues in delivering everything promised) and then blames everything on HG due to hordes of people asking for a refund?

Well, HG did crap with advertising and the game for sure, but sounds also an incredibly douche move from Sony. Basically given how the studio reputation has taken a huge hit from it may never recover, Sony takes no time in making distance from it so player won't associate the two companies.

Blargh. Look where we have come after years in the videogame industry.

[Selastan]

Exactly as I thought, the lack of a dedicated PR person was at fault.

[Deleted]

Exactly as I thought, the lack of a dedicated PR person was at fault.

I don't know, if you need a PR person to prevent yourself from lying about your game, it's pretty sad.

[Deleted]

I don't know, if you need a PR person to prevent yourself from lying about your game, it's pretty sad.

exactly. I don't think the fact that they didn't have a PR person excuses their behaviour. It doesn't take a PR person to see what's right or wrong to do.

[Selastan]

I don't know, if you need a PR person to prevent yourself from lying about your game, it's pretty sad.

Do you honestly think that intentionally lying about their game was what they intended to do? What would they have gained from that?

[Zelendria]

A shit load of sales I imagine... What have they done to the game since everyone found it it wasn't remotely what they were expecting?

[Deleted]

Do you honestly think that intentionally lying about their game was what they intended to do? What would they have gained from that?

Intended? They/he did it...blatantly. Objective? No idea...short-term thinker while forgetting that refunds exist? It's pretty clear they had a ton of pre-orders, many likely due to saying stuff is in the game that actually isn't.

Even if they didn't have some evil goal in mind and wanted to deliver on those things. That changes nothing, as they said stuff was in the game, while it wasn't. They didn't say it would be, or it was in development. They even showed footage saying that it was all...on the spot (don't know how to say it in English)...that they didn't preprogram whatever what was happening...yet it was.

[Gorsameth]

Do you honestly think that intentionally lying about their game was what they intended to do? What would they have gained from that?

When you talk about a big feature that is not in the game 2 months before release? Yes you are intentionally lying.
Yes Sean knowingly lied to the public when talking about the multiplayer aspect.

This was not a dev promising all the features he would like (but cannot deliver) a year or more before release.

[Selastan]

When you talk about a big feature that is not in the game 2 months before release? Yes you are intentionally lying.
Yes Sean knowingly lied to the public when talking about the multiplayer aspect.

This was not a dev promising all the features he would like (but cannot deliver) a year or more before release.

For all we know those features were in the game but buggy at that point. They just pulled them to be released later with a patch so the game wouldn't be delayed.

[Deleted]

They just pulled them to be released later with a patch so the game wouldn't be delayed.

do you have an official quote on that?

[Edge-]

I'm not entirely convinced Sony isn't throwing Hello Games under the buss to an extent.

They're saying that Hello Games arranged all those stage appearances on the Sony stage at press conferences without Sony basically offering them a free spot? That Hello Games got on Colbert without Sony making the connection using their contacts and paying for the segment? That Hello Games got all those interviews with major outlets and all that prime real estate across sites without much, if not all, of it being arranged by someone with a Sony email address?

Yeah, as someone in games PR that doesn't jive in the slightest. Sony was absolutely pulling strings behind the scenes to make opportunities happen, but I guess they never thought about media training Sean or trying to keep a leash on him. Which isn't that surprising, first parties are a fucking disaster internally in many regards.

[Selastan]

do you have an official quote on that?

It was a hypothetical. Honestly the only logical conclusion I could come to. I can hardly believe they would flat out lie. That would just lead to mass refunds and a horrible first impression of an indie developer. They had literally nothing to gain by lying. There is something behind the scenes going on.

[Tech614]

I'm not entirely convinced Sony isn't throwing Hello Games under the buss to an extent.

They're saying that Hello Games arranged all those stage appearances on the Sony stage at press conferences without Sony basically offering them a free spot? That Hello Games got on Colbert without Sony making the connection using their contacts and paying for the segment? That Hello Games got all those interviews with major outlets and all that prime real estate across sites without much, if not all, of it being arranged by someone with a Sony email address?

Yeah, as someone in games PR that doesn't jive in the slightest. Sony was absolutely pulling strings behind the scenes to make opportunities happen, but I guess they never thought about media training Sean or trying to keep a leash on him. Which isn't that surprising, first parties are a fucking disaster internally in many regards.

Sony also pays for activision, ea etc to get marketing and stage spots when they have marketing contracts for games. That doesn't mean they're running the PR for those companies.

If you work in PR you should be able to connect the dots yourself, Sony helping market the game does not mean they gave Hello Games PR people to help them out.

[Deleted]

It was a hypothetical. Honestly the only logical conclusion I could come to. I can hardly believe they would flat out lie. That would just lead to mass refunds and a horrible first impression of an indie developer. They had literally nothing to gain by lying. There is something behind the scenes going on.

There's possibilities that they were working on these features but didn't make the cut. However they knew these features wouldn't make it into the finished game at least a well few months before release. Yet they kept silent leaving everyone to assume these features would still make it to the final product.

That's still not excusable behaviour. Whether they flat-out lied or not.

[Gorsameth]

For all we know those features were in the game but buggy at that point. They just pulled them to be released later with a patch so the game wouldn't be delayed.

You don't put multiplayer in a game 2 months before release.

The client doesn't even send location info to the server
The player model is hilariously unfinished.

No multiplayer was not a bugged and pulled. It simply does not exist.

- - - Updated - - -

There's possibilities that they were working on these features but didn't make the cut. However they knew these features wouldn't make it into the finished game at least a well few months before release. Yet they kept silent leaving everyone to assume these features would still make it to the final product.

That's still not excusable behaviour. Whether they flat-out lied or not.

Its not just staying silent about it. less then 2 months before release Sean was talking about being able to meet and interact with other players.
They actively acknowledge that the feature existed 2 months before release.

[Coombs]

Jesus Christ you people in this thread. "I just don't think Sean Murray would lie to us like that" etc. etc. You are all the reason it is still possible to con people. Ponzi's wet fucking dream in here.

None of you, not a one, know Sean Murray. It's as bad as reddit where everyone talks about Sean as if they are good old friends. He is the very definition of a confidence man.

[Selastan]

Jesus Christ you people in this thread. "I just don't think Sean Murray would lie to us like that" etc. etc. You are all the reason it is still possible to con people. Ponzi's wet fucking dream in here.

None of you, not a one, know Sean Murray. It's as bad as reddit where everyone talks about Sean as if they are good old friends. He is the very definition of a confidence man.

How is it considered a scam if everyone can just get their money back?

[stellvia]

How is it considered a scam if everyone can just get their money back?

Everyone can't get their money back. I had some hours but not a huge amount into the game and was still told no bc I had spent more than 2hrs in it.

[Elim Garak]

How is it considered a scam if everyone can just get their money back?

The only way it can be a scam is if It's just backwards, i.e. players scammed HG. They promised to buy the game, bought it and then refunded.