Sean Murray, studio head of Hello Games, was at The Game Awards to unveil their next project – Light No Fire.
An ambitious new fantasy project set in an planet-sized open world setting, earned the praise of the Cyberpunk 2077 developer, CD Projekt Red, shortly after its announcement.
CD Projekt Red replied to a tweet by Murray about Hello Games’ new IP, where he received some friendly advice about his announcement, saying “Okay Sean, don’t over promise. Just say we’ve been working on something and show some clips!”
The Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher developer cheekily replied to the tweet with, “You can always fix it later. Congrats on the impressive reveal.”
You can always fix it later. 😅 Congrats on the impressive reveal.
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 8, 2023
It is a light-hearted and fun exchange between two studios that have suffered the most disastrous game launches in history. No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 are often noted for their controversial release and eventual redemption arcs.
Hello Games released No Man’s Sky in 2016 and the game was widely criticized for not having features that were promised by Sean Murray. Over the next seven years, the studio has massively overhauled the game to the point that it is now considered one of the best in the open-world and space exploration genres. No Man’s Sky has now been ported to current-gen consoles, Nintendo Switch, and most recently to macOS.
Similarly, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most highly anticipated game releases of 2020. However, the ARPG was plagued by game-breaking glitches, performance issues, and visual bugs. It took the studio over two years to get the title to a state that met player expectations. CD Projekt Red recently released the only planned expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 and is currently working on a sequel.
Both No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 were recognized at the most recent Golden Joystick Awards. The former won in the “Still Playing” category while the latter won “Best Expansion” for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. CD Projekt Red also won the Best Community Support Award at The Game Awards while Hello Games was nominated in the same category.
Murray’s announcement was met with excitement by the gaming community. Many have hoped that Light No Fire will be the first real open-world game, meaning players can explore an entire world.
With the studio’s experience in launching No Man’s Sky, we are confident that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes again. Light No Fire is a title that gamers should keep an eye out for in the coming years.
