‘No Man’s Sky’ Under Investigation for Deceptive Advertising

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has launched an investigation into the pre-release hype surrounding No Man’s Sky.

Sean Murray and Hello Games have been held to the proverbial flames in the wake of the less than impressive launch of their space exploration game. Sony has already tried to wash their hands of the whole affair, with Shuhei Yoshida of Sony Worldwide Studios hedging his statements to point a finger toward the developer. Despite claiming that they were the publisher only for the Blu-ray disc version of the game, it looks like it may not be quite that easy to extricate themselves from the fallout.

The ASA has more than a few issues with the title, centering around its depiction on the Steam store page. According to one of the official complainants, the ASA is addressing major disparities between… well, just about everything advertised versus what’s present in the game itself.

This includes user interface design, loading times, aiming systems, ship AI and behavior, size and behavior of creatures, large-scale space combat, the appearance of structures and buildings, flowing water, and even the basic level of graphical fidelity. The list goes on.

Since launch, Hello Games has effectively gone dark on social media. Other than patch announcements — bereft of any actual notes to inform players of what exactly has been changed — we’ve heard very little from their once ebullient leader, very much in the tradition of the Peter Molyneux school of game development.

In the meantime, Sony continues to categorically deny refunds to disappointed consumers, and Steam has clarified that there will be no special exemptions for No Man’s Sky customers. As for Murray and his team, consumers are still left waiting for some sort of accountability. It remains to be seen whether the ASA can wring it from any of the parties involved.

Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both.