A big part of our chat with Hello Games co-founder Sean Murray for No Man's Sky's 10th anniversary is focused on the next 10 years. Although the studio's next game, the highly ambitious Light No Fire, is in active development, Murray makes it clear in our interview that No Man's Sky isn't going anywhere, saying he could continue working on the game "forever" if people keep playing it. Still, all things must one day come to an end, and Murray isn't delusional on that front.
"There probably is some end date," he says. "But if you had asked me five years ago, I would have thought we would have passed it by now." Murray isn't sure when active development will come to a halt on No Man's Sky, but even when that day comes, he's not closing the door to spontaneous future updates even decades down the road. You know, like Quake.
"I saw MachineGames put out an update for Quake – some new levels," Murray says. "And I was a big fan of Quake when it came out. It was one of my real inspirations for getting into making games. And I see that it's a 30-year-old game, and they release some new levels, and I think there are people who would look at that and say, 'What's the point? Why have they done that?'
"For me personally, I think that's so cool and joyous. I'm excited to go back and have that nostalgia and play. And I was talking to someone on the team who is like, 'Who's even making that? Who cares? Who's still there?' Almost the implication of: wouldn't it be sad if it was somebody who had worked on Quake for 30 years? And I just think it's cool. I can see a real joy in making some new levels for Quake."
Hearing Murray talk about No Man's Sky reminds me of Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone and Stardew Valley. With Haunted Chocolatier in the works, you might think Stardew Valley is taking the backseat, but it seems some creatives are stubborn to let go of their golden children.
"I could imagine us stopping doing updates for No Man's Sky at some point, and then 10 years later, I'm like, 'Let's do an update for No Man's Sky'. I think stuff like that is great," Murray says.
"We are in a mindset right now, in the industry, of games just being very consumable. Onto the next one. But I personally really love going back to some of my favorite games and just replaying them when they come to a new platform or something. There's a real beauty in keeping those things alive."
