Despite Previous Statements, ‘No Man’s Sky’ Could Still Have Paid DLC In The Future

Downloadable content has become a mainstay in modern gaming. Releasing additional digital features for titles is now considered standard for the industry, but publishers and developers must time the release of these add-ons carefully. Coming out with DLC close to the launch of the game will make some feel that they are paying for cut content. Conversely, waiting too long might mean that fans have already lost interest in the title and moved on.

With Hello Games’ recently released No Man’s Sky, however, the problem isn’t when additional content will be available for the enormous sandbox title. Instead, it seems that the developer is now debating if the add-ons will be released as paid DLC or free updates.

Earlier comments from Hello Games’ Sean Murray indicated that the No Man’s Sky creator originally intended to release all of the title’s future updates and features for free. Unfortunately, while speaking about their now modified post-launch plans for No Man’s Sky, Murray told Daily Star that he was “perhaps naive” for previously thinking that the game wouldn’t have paid DLC at some point.

While the developer would have liked to believe that they would be able to give No Man’s Sky users new features for free, the team now realizes that adding some things might require more work than was originally thought. This additional development time could, in turn, force specific content to be released as paid DLC as compensation.

“Maybe in the future there’s some reason why we just couldn’t possibly afford to do a certain feature without charging for it.”

As a report from Gameranx pointed out, Murray’s new comments are in complete opposition to his stand on post-launch content prior to the launch of No Man’s Sky. Speaking recently with Red Bull, the game’s creator revealed that he still didn’t expect for the title to have paid DLC. While it is now known that this may no longer be true, Murray stated just last week that he feels that No Man’s Sky players shouldn’t be forced to pay for new content if they have already purchased the game.

“We do want to add a ton of features, like we’ve just discussed: Freighters, bases, these type of things. But we want to do it for free. You’ve paid for the game, so you should get this stuff without paying even more money. So no, there will be no paid DLC, just patches.”

During the same interview, the developer also briefly mentioned some of what might be added to No Man’s Sky in the future such as bigger ships, bases, and encountering lifeforms in space. Any one of these items could now be considered for paid DLC.

“There are way more features that our community want, and they deserve to get it. We want you to own these giant freighters that you’ve seen in trailers. And build bases. And maybe even include space whales, because apparently space whales these days are synonymous with No Man’s Sky. But yeah, we are focused on that. It wouldn’t make any sense to talk sequels, before this game is out of the door.”

In addition to creating new content for No Man’s Sky, Hello Games is also busy working to rid the sandbox title of bugs and other known issues. As the Inquisitr reported last week, several users have experienced problems with getting stuck in their first star system due to an issue revolving around the game’s tutorial line of quests which guides players to build either the hyperdrive or warp cells necessary to reach a new system. The developer has already stated that they are seeking a fix to these issues as well as those that have affected the title’s PC release.

Are you upset of the developer’s altered stance on paid DLC, or are you simply excited to possibly be getting new features in No Man’s Sky regardless of whether it is free or not?

[Image via Hello Games]