„Here we go again” Light No Fire fans worry Sean Murray is overpromising again, just like No Man's Sky

Today, alongside the launch of No Man’s Sky’s latest update, Sean Murray shared some further details about Hello Games’ upcoming Light No Fire, and fans are worried that he might be promising too much again. If you remember the build-up to No Man’s Sky when that originally launched in 2016, you might also remember that it did not live up to the monumental expectations. Thankfully, over the past nine years, the team behind NMS has continually released updates, transforming it into a beloved title to the point that many people now look forward to the studio’s next game, Light No Fire, which was announced at the 2023 Game Awards showcase. But is Murray once again promising too much?

Light No Fire continues to worry fans who remember the No Man’s Sky launch

In a new video shared today on YouTube, Sean Murray explained the big updates with Voyagers, also known as No Man’s Sky 6.0. He said this update “has been one of the biggest undertakings for our little team.” Players can now build and customize massive ships, then get up and walk around inside them even while in transit. No Man’s Sky continues to be one of the most ambitious games, even though it took years after launch to get there.

However, towards the end of this short video, Murray mentions that the technology used to implement this update in NMS will also be utilized in Light No Fire. Murray claims that in their upcoming title, players will have “real oceans to navigate. You’ll need boats and crews.” In an email correspondence with PC Gamer, Murray apparently even went so far as to say Light No Fire is “a truly open world, a shared Earth-sized planet…” Which is where fans start to worry.

No Man’s Sky may have proven that this kind of scale is possible, but it still took nine years after launch for the studio to reach this point. Since it is the same studio, they can certainly share technology. But it’s easy for fans to worry about how feasible this all is. When the story was shared on Reddit, fans couldn’t help but caution Murray against making the same mistakes, with one user writing: “Ah **** here we go again.”

Related:Light No Fire (LNF) - Console (PS5, PS4, Xbox, Switch) Release Explained

One user wrote: “…After No Man’s Sky’s marketing, he needs to be really careful how he talks about this game.” While others echoed similar worries about what plagued No Man’s Sky’s initial launch: “A big ocean with nothing to do is not fun, it is boring,” and “Don’t forget to make it fun and meaningful… Having to waste hours just to traverse water isn’t going to be taken well by players if that’s all it is…” With some players pointing out the issue of true scale. Even with speedy boats, it takes days to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Will crossing an ocean in Light No Fire take several real-world days?

Hello Games remains one of the most ambitious developers in the world. Has it always worked out for them? Certainly not. But they are also the most dedicated to their ambitions. While many other developers would give up or be shut down by their publishers, Hello Games put their heads down and worked for years to reach their game’s full potential. If they don’t feel rushed to release Light No Fire for any reason, I think they are aware enough to learn from their past mistakes. But that could also mean that the community will need a lot of patience. It could be years until we hear about a release date.

Does spending days traversing a digital ocean sound fun? Maybe. It will come down to the game’s design, the actual length of time, and, of course, who my crew is. It’s amazing how much more fun a game can be when you have good friends to play it with. If this gives my friends and me the ability to live out a pirate-like fantasy on the high seas, I can see the potential for a good time. Light No Fire seems like it’s all about exploration. As long as those oceans have things to discover and explore, it could end up being a huge step forward in the open world gaming experience.

Light No Fire

TBA

Want It!

• Overview

• Hello Games
• Reddit