It’s a big moment for No Man’s Sky. This week sees developer Hello Games’ exploratory space sim celebrating its tenth anniversary, and to mark the occasion, I recently spoke with studio boss Sean Murray.
Amid all the birthday festivities, though, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to ask about the team’s other game. It’s been nearly three years since Hello Games unveiled its No Man’s Sky follow-up, Light No Fire – a co-operative adventure set on a procedurally generated fantasy planet – in the form of a trailer. But while it’s namechecked the game a few times since then – most notably when some of its tech migrated to No Man’s Sky in 2024 – it’s remained tightlipped otherwise. So, I asked Murray, when might we finally hear more?
“You know,” he laughs when I broach the subject during our conversation, “I’ve learned my very important lesson of not talking about things beforehand. I will say, we are so far beyond the point where we should have said something by now in terms of what we have on screen, of what we’re playing every day.”
But as to when Hello Games might finally be ready to discuss Light No Fire in more detail, Murray doesn’t say. “I think at some point we will, you know, let people see more of the game, and I think that it will be very exciting for people when they do see that. I think what I am looking at every day is well past the point any other studio would be talking about their game and showing more.”
Earlier in the conversation, Murray had noted that alongside No Man’s Sky’s continuing development (“another big update” is on the way for its decade-old space sim), the team is still “working really hard” on Light No Fire. He also acknowledged the “very stark difference” between the promotion of No Man’s Sky in its earliest days and its latest project. “We’ve put out a trailer [for Light No Fire], and then we haven’t said anything,” he continued, “and I think that’s probably the way people would prefer it in some ways too.”
“I have to bite my lip to not talk to you about [Light No Fire], and to not show it to people,” he added elsewhere in our conversation. “But I am so incredibly excited about it, and it is so– it is such a joy to work on.”
Light No Fire, which was formally unveiled at The Game Awards in 2023, is a game about “adventure, building, survival, and exploration” set on an ancient, procedurally generated planet the size of Earth. It’s all inspired by classic fantasy, and sees players teaming up to “carve a life together” on a “truly open world”, promising the likes of “immersive biomes, unique enemies and valuable resources to discover”. It’s ambitious stuff, and as someone who’s been playing and enjoying No Man’s Sky since that very first iteration in 2016, I’m eagerly anticipating the day Hello Games is ready to show more.
