Believe it or not, no one really saw No Man's Sky to fall this hard. Heck, it was even deemed as one of the biggest titles this year. With so much anticipation and excitement, fans kept their hopes high for Hello Games' flagship installment. Alas, the game arrived, but it didn't live up to expectations. Fast forward to today, Sean Murray and his team are in serious crisis following ASA's (Advertising Standards Authority) investigation.
As previously reported here at iTech Post, the well-known advertising watchdog organization called ASA has launched an investigation for the false advertisement of No Man's Sky. The decision do so was sparked by the community in which most players were complaining about Murray selling them a half-baked product. That the features the devs promised in the beginning where nowhere to be found in the title.
Kill Screen notes that proving these claims of No Man's Sky being advertised falsely isn't an easy task to do. Nevertheless, ASA is said to be looking at the aspect of the game's videos and screenshots which were all released in Steam's storefront as well as the final product. To give the public a better understanding, these complaints were divided into three aspects. They are as follows:
- No Man's Sky animals aren't as varied as previously said.
- The structures are far different from what was pictured.
- And the supposed grand space - something that players have been hoping for -- did not entirely exist.
The only catch with these No Man's Sky faults is that they're pretty hard to prove. That it's quite complicated in a way, especially for a game that is procedurally generated. Nonetheless, if ASA really intend to go after, they must go beyond the limits.
As noted by PC Gamer, No Man's Sky will be a very special case to handle. ASA might have been successful with the likes of Killzone: Shadow Fall in 2013 being proven with "technical absolutes" (marketing stunts claim that the game should run in 1080p when it didn't); however, with NMS, it's going to be a different story. The watchdog will have to have the effort to check every single element of the game's universe (which is procedurally generated). And this is really a massive workload, considering the 18 Quintillion planets. So if they really want to prove those screenshots and/or images wrong, they have to dig in deeper into the game.
Of course, if the said peripherals do indeed happen in No Man's Sky, then Hello Games is in the safe zone. In fact, they might be relieved knowing that ASA will have to need all the time in this world to prove these false advertisement claims. But as far as how long it will take the organization to do so, it's a mystery obviously.
So will the advertising watchdog company be successful in their No Man's Sky feat? Well, only time can tell. Frustrated players for now can only hope for the best. Heck, Murray might even be sitting on his couch with a wide smile.
What are your thoughts on No Man's Sky player? Are you still playing the game? Are you also one of the players who were frustrated with it? Tell us your story at the comment section below!
