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Shuhei Yoshida Believes No Man's Sky's Marketing 'Wasn't A Great PR Strategy'
Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios, offered criticism towards No Man's Sky's marketing campaign when he recently caught up with EuroGamer at the Tokyo Games Show. After several fans demanded refunds and expressed disappointment in No Man's Sky's final product, Yoshida told the publication that he too felt it didn't meet expectations.
Since its release in early August, disgruntled fans have complained that the final release of No Man's Sky lacked features that Hello Games' Sean Murray had said would be included, such as multiplayer and other functions. Yoshida told EuroGamer that, "I had the opportunity to play the game right before launch - and I restarted playing the game on launch day with the Day One patch - so I could see the struggle for the developers to get the game out in the state that they wanted."
Yoshida nonetheless mentions that he "really enjoyed" playing the game, but understood and sympathized with fans that felt the experience was under par. "I understand some of the criticisms especially Sean Murray is getting, because he sounded like he was promising more features in the game from day one." He says that the PR strategy wasn't its best, but that could relate to how Hello Games is a small indie team. "It wasn't a great PR strategy, because [Sean Murray] didn't have a PR person helping him, and in the end he is an indie developer. But he says their plan is to continue to develop No Man's Sky features and such, and I'm looking forward to continuing to play the game."
As for whether it harmed the PlayStation brand or not, Yoshida says that he "personally doesn't think so" and that he is nonetheless proud that the game has released and that fans can enjoy it on both PS4 and PC. You can read our review of No Man's Sky here, and read our suggestions about fixes we think would improve the overall experience.
[Source: EuroGamer]
Our Take
As someone who was cautiously optimistic as we approached No Man's Sky's release, I still enjoyed my time with it. However, I also understand how some people feel they were misled in terms of what features would be included. The murky definition of "multiplayer" seemed to especially be a problem, as No Man's Sky is by and large a single player experience. It's interesting to hear Yoshida's thoughts on the issue, and rather than completely chastising Hello Games, he was pretty fair.
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