No Man's Sky are both beautiful, great games, and they share a key thing in common: when they were first released, they were both widely considered disasters. Now, years later, each game and development team has received tons of positive reception from fans and critics alike, and their popularity's momentum keeps building. One defied the odds against them more impressively than the other, albeit by a fine margin - so did FFXIV or No Man's Sky have a more impressive comeback?
No Man's Sky was released in 2016. Final Fantasy XIV's first iteration was released in 2010, while the reworked FFXIV: A Realm Reborn was released in 2013. After three years, FFXIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida and his team released one of the greatest MMORPGs of all time. As for NMS, each free update won over more fans and ers, most notably with the extensive multiplayer features introduced in the 2018 update No Man's Sky NEXT.
Each developer listened to their devoted communities along the way, which helps explain these impressive comebacks, improving their games even more. After all the adversity, FFXIV: A Realm Reborn is approaching the release of its fourth and arguably most anticipated expansion pack, Endwalker. No Man's Sky just began a seasonal Expedition event that will run through Halloween, featuring a spooky narrative and tons of giant space worms reminiscent of Dune.
Final Fantasy XIV's Troubled Start
The original Final Fantasy XIV was in development for several years as Square Enix attempted to create a sibling to Final Fantasy XI Online. It was officially announced in 2009 for PC and PlayStation 3 but was canceled before it could even make it to console. While FFXIV's music and graphics were praised, other aspects of the game suffered, and its servers ultimately closed in 2012.
Square Enix is well-known for its games' beautiful graphics, but the original FFXIV had an unhealthy obsession with them. At GDC 2014, Naoki Yoshida described a flowerpot from the original iteration of the game as the loveliest of all MMOs, but it required 1000 polygons and 150 lines of shader code - as much as a player character. Since the graphics were so detailed, the number of players visible onscreen was severely limited, straining the communal element of the MMORPG.
The original FFXIV interface was a chore to use; for most players, the game wasn't considered fun and was more like work than play. The servers were also unstable and often frustrating. Yoshida described the original game engine as essentially broken. Updates were piled onto a flawed foundation, with the intention of dealing with the problems later.
Final Fantasy XIV's Comeback & Success After A Realm Reborn
Square Enix plopped the FFXIV mess into game designer Naoki Yoshida's lap, and he became director and producer. A longtime fan of MMORPGs himself, he gave leadership positions to those familiar with the genre to ensure that FFXIV would have all the features a player might consider the standard. The workflow was streamlined, and even while A Realm Reborn was being developed, the team continued to update the original game until its end.
Critics were uneasy about a mediocre game being rereleased, but Yoshida made a point to establish trust with the community. Releadates for the original game was a way for Yoshida to show players that they could trust the development team, and encourage them to keep playing in A Realm Reborn. Final Fantasy XIV is open about its development process, holding regular livestreams known as Letter from the Producer LIVE.
FFXIV: A Realm Reborn was relaunched in 2013 to great success. Some were concerned over subscription fees, but from players was necessary for upkeeping Yoshida's vision, and it was also considered a sort of trust contract between player and developer. Gameplay was fun, updates were frequent, and players felt heard. After three successful FFXIV expansions and a fourth on the way, it is now the most profitable Final Fantasy in history.
No Man's Sky: Troubled Start & History
No Man's Sky was announced at the end of 2013 with a colorful trailer full of wonder. Mysterious flora and fauna covered undiscovered planets in an enormous, procedurally generated universe. At E3 2014, a new vivid trailer showed fans even more grand, beautiful spacescapes, and huge alien animals that looked like sauropod dinosaurs. The hype surrounding the game that seemed larger-than-life elevated expectations.
When the game was finally released in 2016, No Man's Sky reviews were mixed at best. Vivid worlds like the ones seen in trailers were actually relatively difficult to find, similar to the rarity of planets that could potentially harbor life in our own universe. Some players became increasingly disappointed by the dusty wastelands they stumbled upon or frustrated that they could not find giant long-necked lizards, which seem to be the rarest animals of them all. The procedurally generated open world offered over 18 quintillion planets, but some players were disillusioned with the simple, repetitive gameplay and vague plot. Players could information on the species they discovered and named, but it was unlikely that another player would ever stumble across the same planet to see it. That was about the extent of the multiplayer experience at the time, and it was rather lonely.
No Man's Sky: Comeback & Success Explained
Regardless of its flaws, No Man's Sky still held on to a small but devoted fanbase. A large part of it was the devotion of the development team and co-founder Sean Murray, who had infectious ion and enthusiasm. Hello Games continued to update NMS for free, starting with the ability to create bases a few months after release. In March 2017, multiplayer expanded with the ability to share bases. The third main update substantially fleshed out the game's story mode.
No Man's Sky NEXT, the fourth update, was released in summer 2018. This update was the biggest turning point in the game's history, as it had reached a point more representative of what Hello Games wanted to release in 2016. NMS finally featured a full multiplayer experience, and players could customize their avatar and explore the endless universe together.
Since reaching that stage, Hello Games has released even more free updates, and now No Man's Sky is so fleshed out that it looks nothing like what it was at launch. Hello Games is less quiet about updates now, having reached where it wanted NMS to be, and is more engaged with the player base than ever before. There are multiplayer hubs that host dozens of players, community quests and events, new characters and stories, ways to tame and befriend alien fauna, and a whole lot more. One of the latest updates, Frontiers, added alien settlements and the ability for the player to create and manage their own settlement in No Man's Sky.
In 2019, the NMS community even raised money to buy the billboard outside Hello Games' office for the sole purpose of giving the team a big, heartfelt "thank you." Hello Games continues to engage with the community as the game grows, and the community reciprocates that affection. If players put down the game for too long, they may come back to discover some major updates and new things to do.
No Man's Sky & Final Fantasy XIV: The Most Impressive Comeback
During The Game Awards 2020, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, Destiny 2, Fortnite, and No Many's Sky were all nominated for the Best Ongoing Game category. Hello Games' Sean Murray was one of the five representatives seen on a group of live video feeds. The Awards were being held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and viewers got a peek into the workspaces of gaming giants - and the small indie studio. When No Man's Sky was announced as the winner and the video zoomed in on Sean, he was in the middle of sipping a drink. He was wide-eyed and caught completely by surprise, laughing as he said, "I was not expecting that." Viewers could see that he felt a little out of place alongside such big companies.
Hello Games is an indie studio that had less than 30 employees in 2020. This is substantially fewer than Square Enix, who's been publishing AAA titles in the game industry for decades. Both the No Man's Sky and FFXIV teams have so much sincere ion for what they do, and very dedicated fanbases that them. Looking at Hello Games, though, fans get a sense of the little guy that succeeded against all odds. There is something extra inspirational about an indie studio reaching such acclaim. No Man's Sky perhaps made the most logistically impressive comeback, but both it and Final Fantasy XIV are amazing games, and players can easily see the love that went into them.
