The No Man’s Sky drama continues, as an allegedly disgruntled Hello Games employee called the game a mistake via Twitter. While much of the mistake has since been cleared up, lead programmer Sean Murray is hiding behind the excuse of a server hack.
Trouble began Friday morning when the suspicious tweet, that has since been archived, was posted by Hello Games. It read “No Man’s Sky was a mistake.” The message was eventually deleted and the account suspended, but that was just the beginning. Once that path had closed, several news outlets, like Polygon, received an equally concerning email in the name of studio lead programmer, Sean Murray.
“The tweet is from me, but somebody from the team took it down,” the short correspondence read. The email also noted that “we have not been coping well” with some of the controversy surrounding the product.
Just when everything appeared to be sadly confirmed, it was Murray’s Twitter account that brought forth an official decree on the matter. Following months of social media silence, he remerged to say “server hacked” and that Hello Games was “binging Mr. Robot episodes as quickly as possible looking for answers.” “If anything was a mistake, it was using LinkedIn without 2FA,” he added just 30 minutes ago.
Minutes later, Hello Games directly posted a resolution: "100 percent not hacked anymore," it was announced. "Obviously those mails and that tweet were fake. Back to work."
.@NoMansSky 100% not hacked anymore... obviously those mails and that tweet were fake. Back to work ______
— Hello Games (@hellogames) October 28, 2016
In the confusion of it all, Forbes and others are reporting that the initial tweet was sent by a Hello Games employee. However, considering the recent onslaught of misinformation about No Man’s Sky and its makers, that part of the story should be taken with a grain of salt for now.
No Man’s Sky launched in August and was almost immediately panned by gamers for not delivering on its promised features. While some members of the press have defended it, it remains easily the most divisive game of the year. Recently, internet reports suggested that Hello Games had abandoned its offices while cutting loose a few employees. The abandonment turned out to be false, but turnover is still an open possibility.
No Man’s Sky is available now on PS4 and PC.
