Sean Murray, Hello Games founder and No Man's Sky developer, reveals that he has received death threats since the space exploration title's release date was pushed back to August.

Since the game was initially revealed at Spike VGX 2013, No Man's Sky has been one of the most intriguing titles in production. The massive space exploration project has already amassed a huge army of supporters, and the disappointment was obvious when the game was confirmed to have another delay, this time pushing back the release date to August 9, 2016. However, it appears that some gamers have expressed their dissatisfaction in one of the worst ways imaginable.

Sean Murray, founder of Hello Games and developer of No Man's Sky, has revealed that he has received multiple death threats since the title was officially delayed. Murray shared his experience on Twitter, but did so with a dry sense of humor. "I have received loads of death threats this week, but don't worry, Hello Games now looks like the house from Home Alone," said Murray.

The Hello Games founder continued this attitude with a follow-up tweet. "Tell me when its safe to remove the marbles and oil from the stairs. It's getting really cumbersome, and I need the toilet," Murray said. Although Murray's chipper response is certainly commendable, it's perhaps a worrying indictment of certain aspects of the gaming community that this horrific response to such a minor delay can be so easily ignored.

[HTML1]

Indeed, the fact that Murray has received death threats over this most recent delay becomes increasingly bizarre when the game has only been delayed for a couple of months. Such small delays are commonplace in gaming, particularly as the scope of games becomes increasingly grand. Indeed, The Witcher 3 faced a three-month delay near the end of its development, and the end result was that CD Projekt Red could improve upon the game's open world - one of the most lauded aspects of the acclaimed RPG.

Murray is far from the only developer to receive death threats over his work in the industry. Developers at Oculus received death threats after the company was sold to Facebook, and even some of the modders who were interested in Steam's paid mod initiative received threats from members of the community. Indeed, over 2000 developers also supported an open letter against harassment and death threats online.

The solution to this problem, however, is a difficult one to find. Further delays to the extremely exciting project should not have come as a surprise, given the tumultuous development cycle that No Man's Sky has received, with the offices of Hello Games even being flooded at the end of 2013, and this new delay will no doubt improve the overall experience of the game. Hopefully, Murray - and the rest of the team - will not receive any more threats in future.

No Man's Sky will be released on August 9, 2016, for PS4 and PC.

Source: Twitter