Highlights

  • Light No Fire, Hello Games' upcoming game, has the potential to be even more ambitious than No Man's Sky, but patience is key to getting to its ultimate potential.
  • Hello Games has proven its commitment to updating and expanding its games over time, as seen with the numerous updates to No Man's Sky.
  • The company is passionate about delivering a successful launch and will take the necessary time to ensure that Light No Fire is ready before announcing a release date.

Hello Games newly announced game Light No Fire is even more ambitious than No Man's Sky, and fans would be wise to keep a particular lesson from the sprawling space sim in the back of their minds. No Man's Sky didn't quite live up to the hype Hello Games generated for it at launch, and Light No Fire could fall into the same trap, but there is good reason to be hopeful for the upcoming planet-sized game.

It's understandable that certain fans might have their reservations about Light No Fire. There have been more than a few games that have promised sprawling worlds, only to end up being sterile and uninteresting. The scale of Light No Fire is unprecedented, but there is at least one good reason to have hope for Hello Games' next big project.

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Related
Light No Fire Is a Massive New Open World Game from the No Man's Sky Developers

The developers of No Man's Sky, one of gaming's recent redemption stories, have just revealed its fantasy spiritual successor titled Light No Fire.

No Man's Sky Has Received Many Large Content Updates

Hello Games has spared no effort updating and expanding the world of No Man's Sky. The small development team could have tucked its proverbial tail between its legs and walked away, leaving No Man's Sky a disappointing and boring mess. Instead, the team worked hard and delivered update after update, eventually making No Man's Sky a redemption story for the ages. Hello Games has not hung up its hat on the game either; fans can probably expect at least a few more substantial updates before the team shifts its focus to Light No Fire.

Light No Fire has been in development for around five years, and fans can probably be cautiously optimistic about it. Hello Games founder Sean Murray probably knows better than anyone not to make promises he and his team can't keep, especially on such a platform as The Game Awards which gathers millions of viewers every year.

It was no major secret that Hello Games had something big in the oven, but Sean has been reluctant to talk about it until now. The very fact that Hello Games redeemed itself is almost unprecedented in the world of gaming; most disappointing games remain disappointing, despite the developers' best efforts. It's incredibly difficult for a poorly received game to recover from a bad launch, and Hello Games clearly does not want to endure that particular uphill battle a second time.

Hello Games Is Relentlessly Passionate

Light No Fire is probably at least a couple of years away, but it is certain that Hello Games is going to handle its launch with the utmost care. The company certainly doesn't want to end up treading the same path where it puts itself under pressure by prematurely announcing a release date. No Man's Sky was delayed by a few months, resulting in massive backlash. This is pure speculation, but the disastrous launch might have been partially due to the company not wanting to anger fans by delaying the game further. Hello Games put itself in between the rock of player expectations and the hard place of its own shortcomings. This time, it's unlikely that a Light No Fire release date will be forthcoming until the team is confident that the new game is ready.

In 2023, No Man's Sky is almost unrecognizable when compared to the release version. There have been over 30 significant named updates, and many smaller ones in between. It has been ported to various new platforms, received graphical facelifts, and just about everything else one can think of. This alone should be enough to convince fans of Light No Fire that it will receive similar support for many years after it is eventually released. While it seems appropriate to remain cautiously optimistic about Light No Fire, even if it isn't everything it could be at launch.