Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
News
Sean Murray Talks About How Companies Like EA And Bethesda Should Handle Rocky Game Launches
No Man's Sky has certainly come a long way since its rocky launch, where players loudly shared their disappointment at the dearth of content in the original release. In the years since, Hello Games has steadily released updates that have filled No Man's Sky with multiplayer options, bases to build, and even freighters to commandeer. In other words: Hello Games' Sean Murray knows something about turning a sinking ship around.
During his keynote speech at this year's Develop conference, Murray doled out some nuggets of advice to companies like EA and Bethesda, who are struggling with rocky launches for the likes of Anthem and Fallout 76:
We went about two years without talking to press at all....and we went about three months without saying anything to the community either. That was really hard. I sat down so many times and wrote the perfect blog post that was going to explain everything about the game's development, and the road map going ahead. But I could see that it didn't hold credibility with regards to where we were at.
There have been a number of games that have since come out, had a polarizing launch, and that explosive mix of loads of people playing it but also problems. And I can see EA, Microsoft, or Bethesda try to placate players by just talking to them, but for right or wrong, it just doesn't really work. You see this all the time when a big publisher will talk to the community and try to solve the problem and then get embroiled, taking up more and more of its head space.
There have been a number of games that have since come out, had a polarizing launch, and that explosive mix of loads of people playing it but also problems. And I can see EA, Microsoft, or Bethesda try to placate players by just talking to them, but for right or wrong, it just doesn't really work. You see this all the time when a big publisher will talk to the community and try to solve the problem and then get embroiled, taking up more and more of its head space.
For more on No Man's Sky, check out our week-long look at the upgraded version of the game here.
On
On
Off
Off
Products In This Article
No Man's Sky
Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation VR2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Release Date:
August 9, 2016 (PlayStation 4, PC),
July 24, 2018 (Xbox One),
November 10, 2020 (Xbox Series X/S),
November 12, 2020 (PlayStation 5),
October 7, 2022 (Switch),
February 22, 2023 (PlayStation VR2)
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
