No Man's Sky Did Not "Harm" PlayStation Brand, But PR Strategy Not the Best, Exec Says

No Man's Sky was one of the most-hyped games this year, so when it finally came out in August, it faced the uphill battle of living up to what people expected it to be. Now, PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has said the strategy that Hello Games and director Sean Murray took of discussing features that didn't make it into the launch version might not have been the best way to go.

"I understand some of the criticisms especially Sean Murray is getting, because he sounded like he was promising more features in the game from day one," Yoshida told Eurogamer. "It wasn't a great PR strategy."

Hello Games is a small, independent studio. Yoshida said part of the problem might have been that Murray apparently did not have a PR person or team to help him determine what he should and shouldn't say. Indeed, a number of features that Murray discussed were not included in the launch version of No Man's Sky. However, Murray has talked about adding new features to the game over time as free DLC, including base-building and more.

Yoshida said he's eager to see where the game goes in the future.

"[Murray] says their plan is to continue to develop No Man's Sky features and such, and I'm looking forward to continuing to play the game," he said.

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Hello Games published the digital version of No Man's Sky for PS4 and PC. Sony published and distributed the physical version of No Man's Sky for PS4, so there is probably a conversation to be had about why Sony did not reign in what Murray was saying about No Man's Sky before launch.

Eurogamer also asked Yoshida whether he thought that No Man's Sky "harmed" the PlayStation brand if people have the perception that Hello Games over-promised and under-delivered.

"I am super happy with the game actually, and I'm amazed with the sales the game has gotten, so I'm not the right person to judge if it has 'harmed' the PlayStation brand," he said. "I personally don't think so. If anything, I am proud that people can play No Man's Sky on PS4 as well as PC."

No Man's Sky landed at the No. 2 position for sales in the US for August 2016, behind only juggernaut Madden NFL 17. However, neither Hello Games nor Sony have provided any specific sales figures for the game to date.

Fans looking forward to what's coming next for No Man's Sky have been out of luck lately. Murray himself has not tweeted since August 18, while Hello Games has been silent since August 27.

For more on No Man's Sky, check out GameSpot's review.