No Man’s Skyhas recently been trending on Twitter, but perhaps not for the reason that fans of the game think.After the troubled launch ofCyberpunk 2077, Twitter has been comparing it to the disappointing launch ofNo Man’s Skyback in 2016.
In the last few days, things have not gone well for CD Projekt Red. On December 17th, 2020,Cyberpunk 2077was removed from the PlayStation storefor digital purchase, and Sony has been promising complete refunds for the game. It had a buggy release, and many fans were disappointed when noting missing features and underwhelming graphics. And it seems like gaming fans on Twitter can’t help but see some similarities between this and the disastrous lunch ofNo Man’s Sky.
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Twitter is aflame with comparisons between the launch ofCyberpunk 2077andNo Man’s Sky. WhileNo Man’s Skywas never removed from the online stores for purchase, it still angered fans to the point where many asked for, and received, a refund.
The original release ofNo Man’s Skywas a gutted version of what was promised, the game that launched not even close to what the developers had been showing fans leading up to launch. About 90% of players completely abandoned the title, and it was rated theworst video game of 2016by several review websites.No Man’s Skyhad mislead its players, promising things like crashed ships, massive buildings to explore, rotating planets, the ability to see and interact with other people playing, and a million little things that were missing from the title. This turned what should have been a fun romp through the galaxy into what many saw as a boring, repetitive game with no life.
On the other hand,Cyberpunk 2077delivered on much of the story that was promised. There was as much depth in the lore as there was shallowness inNo Man’s Sky’s empty galaxies. There are definitely bugs inCyberpunk 2077and some missing content (not to mentionCyberpunk 2077can be careless with some serious subjects like suicide). But the launches of the two games were labeled as bad for completely different reasons.
However, it’s still difficult to keep from comparing both games. It also calls to mind some other less than stellar launches in the past decade, includingFallout 76’s original lack of promised content,The Elder Scrolls Online’s original launch before it was revamped, andFinal Fantasy 14’s world being rebuilt from the ground up.
Thankfully, all of these examples can giveCyberpunk 2077fans some hope;No Man’s Skyis now a completely revamped game with much better play and meaningful DLC. The same can be said about each of the other examples above. While the original release ofCyberpunkmay not have been the slam dunk that everyone was wishing for, there is still hope that the future will bring a much better game. And all thoseCyberpunk 2077glitcheswill just be a funny memory.
No Man’s Skyis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
