Arguably one of the most high-profile game launches from a small team of the decade, No Man’s Sky is an exploration survival game set in a procedurally generated science-fiction universe. After a tricky launch, the team at Hello Games has since devoted a huge amount of time and resources to several substantial updates to the game, adding new features and considerable polish along the way.
Waking Titan ARG
An alternate reality game (or ARG) known as Waking Titan was launched to lead up to two of the largest update releases. ARGs are essentially puzzle games in their own right, typically divulged over the internet and solved by hardcore fans who sleuth their way through a variety of marketing collateral often including (but not limited to!) elaborately built in-universe websites, phone numbers, and live events at physical real-world locations.
Walking Titan introduced players and fans to The Atlas Foundation, a company within the fictional universe of No Man’s Sky, and allowed them to discover fictional internal memos from the company that help to explain events from the game, by solving puzzles. In addition to the typical ARG delivery mechanisms, the campaign includes recordings on cassette tapes sent to fans in the post, radio station broadcasts, and live streams on Twitch.
Read more about the Waking Titan ARG on the Game Detectives Wiki.
The Galactic Atlas
In addition to the successful ARG and ongoing development efforts to improve the game, the Galactic Atlas was launched as a companion website that allows players to browse points and locations of interest from the game, powered by data from the game and user surveys.
Check out the Galactic Atlas to read more about the community hubs and player submitted stories.
