Hello Games has finally revealed its next big project, and it is massively ambitious on the scale of No Man's Sky. The story of No Man's Sky is often used as a cautionary tale when referring to over-hyped video games that end up falling far short of player expectations, and Hello Games' new project, Light No Fire, could fall into the same trap. Considering how great No Man's Sky has become thanks to the hard work of Sean Murray and the rest of Hello Games, though, hopefully the studio can keep its momentum going and deliver an excellent experience from day one.

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What Is Light No Fire?

Light No Fire is an open world game in the most literal sense. It seemingly takes one of the most common No Man's Sky player requests, more diverse biomes on individual planets, and runs with it; the game is set to take place on an actual Earth-sized planet where players can build, explore, and survive together.

No Man's Sky promised players a gargantuan procedurally generated universe with millions of planets to explore, while Light No Fire promises a singular life-sized world. To give a better sense of the scale of such an undertaking, it is helpful to look at the scale of some other games.

Below is a sample of some of the biggest maps in all of gaming:

• Skyrim (14.5 Square Miles)
• Grand Theft Auto 5 (29 Square Miles)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (49 Square Miles)
• World of Warcraft (80 Square Miles)
• Death Stranding (230 Square Miles)

How Big Will Light No Fire Be?

The surface area of planet Earth is 197 million square miles, and one could fit the province of Skyrim in that space roughly 13.5 million times over. For a more useful comparison, the average No Man's Sky planet is around 80 square miles, which surface area would need to be multiplied nearly 2.5 million times to be comparable to the IRL Earth.

Creating an Earth-sized game world is an absolutely staggering undertaking, especially for a small team like Hello Games. This could create a situation where Hello Games is once again a victim of its own ambition. On the other hand, if the No Man's Sky developer pulls it off, it could be something exciting and special.

Another way to put the ambitious scale of the game into perspective is by looking at Sean Murray's claim that there will be mountains higher than Everest. According to various sources, it takes around 2 months for a round trip to the summit of Everest. Players will be able to spend years exploring such a massive world.

Lessons Learned From No Man's Sky

Light No Fire has already been in development for 5 years, and the first trailer shown at The Game Awards 2023 is certainly impressive. The biggest danger is that the massive world will feel empty and bland, much like No Man's Sky was when it first released. It has taken years of meaty updates for No Man's Sky to recover from its infamously disastrous launch, and one can only hope that Light No Fire doesn't end up treading a similar path.

Fans of Hello Games have come to the consensus that Sean Murray has learned his lesson from the No Man's Sky debacle, and isn't going to make promises that he and his team can't back up. Light No Fire probably isn't coming out any time soon, but when it does, it could either be a massive success or a disappointing flop, depending on how well it lives up to the lofty expectations that fans already have for the game.

Light No Fire is currently in development.