No Man's Sky received mixed reviews at its 2016 launch, with some critics praising the technical achievements of the procedurally generated universe, while others considered the gameplay lackluster and repetitive.

They start on a randomized planet near a crashed spacecraft towards the edge of the galaxy and are equipped with a survival exosuit with a jetpack and a "multitool" that can be used to scan, mine and collect resources as well as to attack or defend oneself from creatures and hostile forces.

After finding their starship, its computer guides the Traveller to make the necessary repairs and to collect the resources needed to fuel a hyperspace jump to another planetary system.

[95][96] Murray wanted to re-create the feelings of space exploration seen in older procedurally generated games, including the galaxies of Star Control II, Elite and Freespace.

The game's engine employs several deterministic algorithms such as parameterised mathematical equations that can mimic a wide range of geometry and structure found in nature.

[136][137] In response, Murray asked people waiting for the game to avoid these spoilers, stating "We've spent years filling No Man's Sky with surprises.

A game-breaking bug occurred with an in-game pre-order bonus spaceship players could collect that would potentially strand them on a planet, and a resource duplication exploit could significantly reduce the time needed to reach the game's endings.

[161] About a week after the Windows release players had already started to examine the game's files and create unofficial mods, with at least one mod-sharing website offering these for distribution.

Murray also commented on the potential for a remastering of No Man's Sky for a system with more hardware capabilities, suggesting that they would be able to both increase the texture resolution and the degree of complexity of the flora and fauna on the planets.

[194] While many praised the technical achievement of No Man's Sky's procedurally generated universe, several found that the nature of the game can become repetitive and monotonous, with the survival gameplay elements being lacklustre and tedious.

[202][204] Polygon's Ben Kuchera hypothesised that No Man's Sky could follow the same route as Destiny, a 2014 game that, at release, received lukewarm reviews as it lacked much of the potential that its developers and publishers had claimed in marketing, but became highly praised after several major updates.

Kuchera referred to Hello Games' statements regarding new features, downloadable content, and tracking what players are interested in as evidence that No Man's Sky would evolve over time.

[207] Andrew Webster of The Verge described the soundtrack as an extension of past 65daysofstatic albums, particularly from Wild Light, but with a greater science-fiction vibe to it, considering the track "Asimov" to be like "taking flight into a Chris Foss painting".

[218] Physical sales of No Man's Sky across both PlayStation 4 and Windows in August 2016 made it the second-highest selling game in North America by revenue that month, according to NPD Group.

[222] With the release of "Next" and the Xbox One version of the title in July 2018, SuperData reported No Man's Sky was the sixth top-selling console game globally for the month, bringing in around US$24 million across all platforms.

[223] At the 2019 Game Developers Conference, Murray stated that sales figures for No Man's Sky Next were comparable to what would satisfy a large AAA publisher at launch.

[250][251] The Hub has its own form of governance called the Galactic Council to guide how the Hub should expand, particularly after major game patches that render changes to planets,[252] as well as an in-game cryptocurrency called Hubcoin, which is operated by the experimental testnet of Ethereum and has no true monetary value but can be traded in for in-game resources, and intended to be used to pay players for custom bases and other such features.

[249] Since its reveal at the 2013 VGX show and over the course of its development, the potential of No Man's Sky had been widely promoted across the video game industry and created a great deal of hype.

[258] No Man's Sky has been considered by Nathan Lawrence of IGN as a mainstream-friendly space flight simulator game, providing controls that were "simple to learn and fascinating to plumb" compared to Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen while still offering engaging gameplay.

[259] The concepts behind No Man's Sky, allowing for a "grail-like feedback loop" around the exploration of near-infinite space according to Time's Matt Peckham, created a great amount of anticipation for the game from gamers, as such lofty goals were often seen as a dare for them to challenge.

This overwhelmed their expected server capacity and overloaded their support team with bug reports and technical help, leading to the noted problems with communications within the release window.

[283][284] Kuchera later wrote that many of the issues in the lead-up and follow-up to No Man's Sky's release, whether by choice or happenstance, provide many lessons on the importance of proper public relations.

"[280] The Hello Games' Twitter account had been hacked into in October 2016 and used to post the message "No Man's Sky was a mistake" among other tweets before the companies regained control of it, leading to confusion and additional drama within the community.

Keighley had expressed to Murray his concern that the $60 price tag was a bit steep for the current state of the game and recommended that they take an early access approach instead.

Keighley felt that Murray could not "rip off that band-aid" and explain exactly what had made it and had to be cut for the game prior to release, and in the end, appeared to "disrespect his audience".

Layden further expressed that from Sony's side, they recognised that they "don't want to stifle ambition" and force a specific style of play onto their games.

[314][315] Murray himself has avoided commenting directly on any of the updates for No Man's Sky and staying out of the "hype cycle" until they are at the shipping point, to not repeat any of the mistakes from the game's launch.

[327] Several journalists attribute a change in Valve's Steam storefront policies in November 2016, requiring all game screenshots and videos to be from the final product, as a response to No Man's Sky.

Novaquark, the developers of the upcoming open-world Dual Universe, found themselves struggling to complete their Kickstarter funding in the months immediately after No Man's Sky's release, but have recognised the need to be open and transparent to potential funders on what the game will and will not have.

[332] Eurogamer's Wesley Yin-Poole observed that following No Man's Sky's problematic release, developers appear to be "keeping their cards close to their chests for fear of failing to deliver on a promise that never should have slipped out in the first place"; as an example, he stated that Rare's Sea of Thieves, whereas having only been promoted through obscure videos that left too many questions to potential players in its earlier stages, has started an "Insider" programme in December 2016 to provide limited alpha-testing access and more concrete gameplay videos.