A Reminder to Fans of No Man's Sky: Make Your own Story

No Man's Sky has been in the news a lot this past week. It started with a few videos released by an individual who reportedly paid over $1000 for a leaked copy on the PS4. The game won't be released until August 9th on the PS4 while PC players like me have to wait until the 12th. This person couldn't take the wait any longer and not long after receiving his ill gotten copy, he began uploading videos of his playthrough. Most fans were content to ignore the videos and updates that he posted. That was, until he said he reached the center of the galaxy.


The claim being flung about the internet is that it only takes about 30 hours of gameplay to reach the center. There has been a lot of hair-tearing and raging freak-outs from potential players who feel like the immense game they thought they were getting is actually really small. I'm here to tell you all that you're being ridiculous. Of course it didn't take long for someone to reach the center of the galaxy. This is a person who essentially devoted all of his time and resources towards making that journey. Put away the pitchforks and extinguish those torches folks.

It may be hard to accept, but you have to look at the experience of No Man's Sky in much the same way that you would look at an open world game like Skyrim or Grand Theft Auto V. Sure, you could just tumble through the main storyline quests and finish out a playthrough in about, say, 10 hours. Is that really what you do though? No! You explore and experiment. If there is a particular set of armor or a car that you want, you save up or find the resources to get it. Your interaction with an open world is exactly that: open.

I get that Sean Murray said in an interview that reaching the center of the galaxy would likely take hundreds of hours to reach unaided and that a bunch of you feel betrayed by the revelation that he may have been wrong. Whether he was wrong or not, has no bearing on the experience you create for yourself in the game. The person playing the leaked copy has already admitted to exploiting the game's systems in order to speed up his journey. If you're concerned about "beating the game" as quickly as he did, just don't do what he did.

The galaxy in No Man's Sky is so vast, you'll likely never find this location. Ever.

Stop acting like No Man's Sky is some sort of linear rail shooter. So it took some guy 30 hours to get to the center of the galaxy? Big deal! I can't really fathom how much stuff he missed or just didn't care to learn that you might come across. You are not bound to another player's experience, so stop letting it affect you.

No Man's Sky is what you make it, just as any other open world game. Go where you want, do what you want. You are not required to race to the center of the galaxy. Explore for a while, take a side in a war, work some difficult trade agreements. Throwing up your hands now is like storming out of a library after learning that someone else finished one of the books inside.