Genital Jousting has sold 354,139 copies so far. Which is a lot of penises.
When it launched in Early Access in late 2016, Genital Jousting became a viral sensation—Gang Beasts with wangs. Seemingly everybody on YouTube made a video about, even us. Doing the rounds on social media paid off when Steam sales came round.
"A lot of the sales did come in Early Access," says creative director Evan Greenwood, "and a lot of that was during things like the Christmas sale which Steam included us in and things like that. I think there might have been a Valentine's bump."
"We did a big Valentine's Day special," confirms programmer Robbie Fraser. "We wanted to do a two-for-one package and Steam wouldn't give it to us. We ended up doing 50% off instead, which is not quite the same thing."
Success wasn't a sure thing for Genital Jousting. After wrapping up work on Broforce, Free Lives reached out to Valve to make sure that a game about penises that have buttholes would be acceptable for their platform. Though one of Valve's reps confirmed it would, they remained cautious at first.
"Initially Steam did not promote it in certain places because of its adult nature," says Greenwood. "They were waiting for some sort of backlash, they weren't sure what would happen themselves. They didn't receive a backlash and the game maybe was better than they expected, it received relatively good reviews, that kind of thing. The Steam user reviews people were happy, they weren't up in arms saying, 'This is a pile of garbage'. And so Steam kind of made it up to us by including us in Christmas sales and that kind of thing."
For about a year during Genital Jousting's time in Early Access, Free Lives went dark. They were working on something special for the final launch—a singleplayer mode for their silly-physics party game, an ambitious linear narrative that took its fumblecore mechanics and used them to tell a story about modern manhood. It was an unexpected addition, to say the least. At the time I compared it to The Stanley Parable, only you're a penis. But even with that major addition appearing out of nowhere Genital Jousting's final release didn't equal the success it enjoyed during Early Access.
"We assumed it would have another round of virality," says Fraser, "and be like a whole 'nother new thing that people hadn't seen and it could be as big as like the first time they saw anything about Genital Jousting."
"So that didn't happen," adds Greenwood, "and it actually went the way that anyone with some business sense and a head on their shoulders would have expected, which was it performed about as well as the initial launch."
He's quick to add that they don't consider this a failure. Adding a singleplayer story to their game may not have doubled its already impressive sales, but that's not the only measure of its worth. "We're really proud of it and we've had a lot of really strong, positive response," Greenwood says. "I think people are playing it but it's kind of hard to tell. It doesn't YouTube the same way and it can't be on Twitch."
Genital Jousting is among the games banned from Twitch due to its sexual content, and while it's still allowed on YouTube, it's become less visible there thanks to changes in their algorithm. "It hasn't had the same virality as we experienced the first time. We don't know how much of that is because of increased strictness on YouTube's part. Delisting videos for any kind of sexual content was a thing that had started almost before two weeks before the final launch of Genital Jousting and we don't know how much effect that had, if any."
Releasing the Early Access version of their game when they did was a fortuitous bit of timing, giving it a chance at spreading across the internet it wouldn't have if they'd done it today. As for what's next, they describe Free Lives as being in an experimental mode at the moment, working on various prototypes as well as continuing work on Gorn, their VR gladiator game. "Gorn's continuing," says Greenwood. "There may be an update to Broforce. We're seeing if we still enjoy making bits of Broforce, maybe a bit more of a taste for it after a narrative experience. Maybe some dumb action, maybe that would be enjoyable."
It combines 16-bit SNES-style visuals with a more modern physics system, fast combat and puzzle solving. There's plenty of loot to find and sci-fi dungeons to explore, and it'll take between 20 and 25 hours to blast through the full story when it comes out.
The developer's YouTube channel essentially chronicles CrossCode's development in real time: each video, a couple of which are released every month, is around five hours long and shows the development team at work on various aspects of the game, whether that's adding new facial expressions or tweaking enemies.
It has a free demo on Steam so you can try it out before the full release in September. A more precise date will arrive in early August, the developers said in a blog post. You can watch it in action below, but just bear in mind this trailer is a year old.
You can now play a decent chunk of Middle-earth: Shadow of War for free thanks to a new demo released by Monolith Productions.
It'll let you play through all the missions in the Núrn region, in which you build an army of orcs and kill off warchiefs. Once you've amassed a strong force, you can march to the area's massive stronghold for a full-on fortress assault complete with siege machines.
After laying waste to the fortress, you can challenge its overlord, and once they're defeated you can install one of your own loyal followers as the new big boss. It's a pattern that repeats throughout the game, so the demo will give you a good idea of whether you could get into the rhythm.
If you play past the demo, which you can download from the game's Steam page (warning: it’s nearly 50GB, which seems silly), your new overlord will carry over, and to encourage you to do just that the full game is on sale for 66% off for the next 24 hours or so, making it $20/£15. If you just want to buy the full game from the start, it's on sale even cheaper over at Green Man Gaming.
Good news and bad news for fans of classic first-person shooters. The good news is that players who've bought the Early Access version of Ion Maiden, the retro shooter being made in the same engine as Duke Nukem 3D, will gain access to a forthcoming multiplayer beta. Developers Voidpoint are calling the multiplayer "classic" and "fast-paced" though what specific modes it will have has not been announced. That brings us to the bad news—Ion Maiden's launch has been delayed to 2019.
You can try Ion Maiden's single-player in the Early Access version, both Queen of the Hill mode and a shareware-style chunk of its campaign. Alex Wiltshire thoroughly enjoyed it, saying, "Ion Maiden's scale is ridiculous, with everything too wide and too tall, but that's totally fine because of your equally ridiculous run speed and jump height. You don't need special abilities to traverse the world, not even a sprint meter, because you can just run everywhere. Ion Maiden has the old school's vital kineticism, a sense of speed that more earthbound modern shooters has forgotten. I'm not saying that making everything fast is ideal in all cases, but when environments are this enormous zooming through them feels great."
Limited copies of a collector's edition are available, including a copy of the game on a USB shaped like a 3.5-inch floppy disk. You can get the digital version on Steam.
Vermintide 2's modding scene is still young—Fatshark only opened the Steam Workshop for their game on May 31—but you can already download mods to display your ping, make bots better at carrying tomes, and insert some unused voice files back in. The mod that most interested me is Photomode, created by SkacikPL (who you may know as the modder responsible for The Witcher 3's first-person mode). It lets you fly around outside your body taking screenshots of Vermintide 2's lovely levels, all those ramshackle Tudor houses in Helmgart, the windmills in the wheatfields, elven ruins in the forest, and barbaric tent towns in the frozen north.
You can also snap shots of the action as you disembody ratmen, send marauders flying, or perhaps fall off a cliff like a dummy.
Before installing Photomode you'll need to grab the Vermintide Mod Framework. With that placed at the top of your mod load order you'll be able to access a new menu by pressing F4 that enables various options relating to any mod you've got.
In the case of Photomode that includes options to disable the HUD by tapping F5, allow bots into the Keep between matches so you can pose them for group shots (though you won't be able to change which hero you're playing if the one you want to switch to is taken by a bot), and turn on modes that make you invisible to enemies or disable them entirely for the ultimate chill Warhammer experience of 'sightseeing mode'.
Pressing F9 lets you fly out of your body, and automatically pauses the action if you're playing solo (and you can press P to unpause). There's no limit on how far away you can travel, which means you can sneak a look into areas you obviously aren't meant to see, where lights shoot up from beneath trees, gaps appear in the ground, and buildings are tilted at weird angles.
There are more complex options you can fiddle with as well. Bring up the chat window and enter /pmsetenvparam followed by one of the commands from this list to mess with environmental parameters—check out the difference between "/pmsetenvparam sun_enabled,0" and "/pmsetenvparam sun_enabled,2" for instance.
There's also a command to enable posing characters in set animations, though that's a more involved process. To start with you'll need to type /pmplayerindex to get ID codes for each character, then scroll through this list of animations to pair with them. The format is /pmplayanim [ID code],animation so for instance "/pmplayanim 110000103dbbb6f:1,idle" would play the idle animation for the character with that ID. Not every animation is available for every character, and it'll take a lot of experimentation, typing in commands then hitting F9 to move the camera around and see if they're playing, to find the good stuff. You can have some fun with them, though. Here's Kerillian in "prologue_stand" looking unconcerned by warpfire.
A less fiddly way of tweaking screenshots is dropping lights at your position by pressing L. You can dump strings of them wherever you want some extra glow on a character, and pressing O will remove the last one placed if you overdo it. If you want to get fussy, these commands let you alter their default orange glow, whether they cast shadows, and so on.
At the moment having any mods active will mean you have to play in the Modded Realm, where there's no character advancement or rewards to earn. That will change once Fatshark begin their program of sanctioning mods that don't upset the balance or allow cheating, and I assume plenty of the popular quality-of-life mods will be among those sanctioned. If you're messing about with Photomode though, you're probably not that bothered whether you earn chests or level up while you're doing it.
Vermintide 2 is a hectic game, one where hordes of enemies are summoned at regular intervals, at least one of the other players will rush on to the next area at the first opportunity, and dawdlers are easy targets for hook rats. But it's also a nice one to look at, crammed with environmental detail and suggestions of an entire world beyond the border of what's visible. Until we get a full-on open world singleplayer Warhammer RPG, messing about with Photomode in Vermintide 2 is the closest we'll get to exploring its spooky forests, pseudo-German settlements, and Skaven tunnels at our own pace, snapping off screenshots like tourists of the Old World.
New details about Capcom's Resident Evil 2 remake were revealed at San Diego Comic-Con yesterday.
Twitterer Ateliermatangi was at the Resident Evil panel and captured a range of concept and environmental art, as well as sharing snippets of game producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi's presentation, in which he explained why the remake of Resident Evil 2 came to fruition due to "overwhelming fan demand", and how the team used the original key art for inspiration whilst ensuring the remake has its own identity, too.
The panel also explained how the team were keen to scale back Leon Kennedy's hero persona and emphasise his "youthfulness" to ensure he "fits the new world", and how Claire Redfield's character and clothing were refreshed for the remake, which includes "ditch[ing] the hot pants" for a "biker ninja" image. Many of the zombies, too, were redesigned for the remake, with some modelled on members of the development team.
For the full breakdown—including fan photos of a load of previously unseen artwork—head on over to Ateliermatangi's twitter thread, or take a sneaky peek at the PlayStation Blog. (It's okay, I won't tell anyone.)
This weekend, we've asked the PC Gamer writers about the upcoming games that have made them the most excited over the years, sometimes from reading ancient issues of our own magazine. You'll find a mix of old and new games in here, and we'd love to hear your choices in the comments below too.
We've also thrown in some answers from subscribers to the PC Gamer Club membership program via our exclusive Discord channel. Find out more about the PC Gamer Club here.
Tyler Wilde: Max Payne
I remember reading a preview in PC Gamer which stated that you could go from an indoor environment to an outdoor environment seamlessly—and in New York City! That was really all it took to get me hyped. I was a Quake 2 map maker, and the best you could really do there is have an outdoor area with a skybox surrounded by architecture. The idea that I could walk around inside an NYC apartment building, and then walk right outside into the street was huge to me (and with physics!). I was getting tired of sci-fi settings at the time, too. In the late-90s and early 2000s, even most historical war shooters were mods (this is before MoHAA and Call of Duty) and there wasn't a lot of modern day stuff (there was Rainbow Six, but that wasn't really up my alley). So I was playing a lot of Action Quake 2 (a mod that attempted to turn Q2 into a modern day action movie) and watching movies like Enemy of the State and Rush Hour and wondering why games weren't reflecting that stuff. And of course I'd seen The Matrix. So Max Payne became my obsession after I read that preview—the only game I wanted. I don't recall feeling let down at all when it came out.
I owned Starsiege: Tribes for a full year before I had internet. I had the instruction manual, which featured generous descriptions of the Diamond Sword, Blood Angels, and other factions. I had the CD-ROM, but all I could access were a handful of dull tutorials and some demo files (replays, basically) of the developers playing real matches—just another way that Tribes was years ahead of its time, now that I think about it. I bided my time, writing fan fiction of imaginary battles. I don't know if a game has ever built up in my mind so much... and then actually delivered on the fantasy I'd cultivated in my mind. Tribes was the first shooter I'd played with bases—the whole concept of bases with tunnels, generators, turrets, and infrastructure that could be attacked and defended was so cool to me in '98-'99. It paved the way for addictions to stuff like Unreal Tournament's Assault mode in '99, which, thankfully, featured bots.
Tim Clark: Operation Wolf
The one which springs immediately to mind is Operation Wolf on Amstrad CPC 6128, a conversion of the arcade game which had a big metal Uzi strapped to the cabinet. I first played it on Eastbourne Pier (sadly RIP), during a visit to my grandparents (even more sadly RIP). As this would have been around the time of Arnie's Imperial Phase—ie Commando and The Terminator—the chance for a young boy to go hog wild on 8-Bit sprites with a bucking SMG left a sizable impression. Once I learned it was coming to computers I was basically beside myself. I would spend literally hours staring at the paltry couple of screenshots in my copy of Amstrad Action which contained the preview. And when the game finally landed months later? It was okay I guess. Turns out the fun really was in the Uzi.
Philippa Warr: Skyrim
I pre-ordered Skyrim based on my love of Oblivion. (Don't pre-order, kids). I actually booked a week off my non-games journalism job to luxuriate in it. It was okay, but I realised after booting it up that what I'd really wanted was more Oblivion. Skyrim felt too different—it wasn't cosy or weird in the ways I liked it being weird. I mean, there was no speechcraft minigame—how do you have conversations with people if you can't manipulate a pie? And why was it so big? And why wasn't I massively overpowered through hundreds of hours of wandering about? Actually, thinking about it, these are pretty much the same complaints I have about Destiny 2. It's not Destiny 1 but I'd really like it to be. Anyway, that week off work ended up involving very little Skyrim and a lot of finding things to do in London in the middle of November.
Chris Livingston: Half-Life 2
It's probably boring to say Half-Life 2 which feels like my answer to most "What game did you X or Y or Z" questions, but it's definitely Half-Life 2. And that was a hell of a long wait, plenty of time to get excited and disappointed and excited again. Remember the early gameplay footage of the strider (see above)? It's probably the video I've watched the most in my lifetime apart from maybe Bob's New Boots. I studied it the way investigators studied the Zapruder film. As a follow-up to Half-Life it seemed impossible that HL2 could actually be better but there was also the possibility that it somehow could be better. I pre-loaded it and stayed up late to unlock it and of course Steam went down for a while and I couldn't play it, and by 3 am (with work at 7 am) I had managed to play like 20 minutes of it. I guess I should have taken a week off like Pip did.
Andy Kelly: GTA 5
Of the many trailers released in the run-up to V's launch, it was this one that really sent my excitement spinning into overdrive. Moody synth music and atmospheric shots of Los Santos give way to a detailed, narrated breakdown of (almost) everything you can do in the game. It's a great format for a trailer, and I'm surprised more developers haven't stolen it.
Compared to the cinematic trailers it actually gives you a sense of how the game will play, and I watched it so many times, dreaming of finally getting my hands on it. I've been writing about videogames for my entire adult life, and while some people in this line of work get gradually more jaded over time, I'm glad I can still get excited about a new Grand Theft Auto. I hope GTA VI, whatever that turns out to be and whenever it gets announced, gives me the same feeling.
Andy Chalk: Wing Commander
A friend of mine, who had previously shown no interest in PCs or videogames, decided one day to jump into it with both feet, buying himself a hot setup with a massive 19" monitor and a super-sweet Gravis joystick. I went over one night and he was playing this amazing deep space combat sim with all these different types of ships and weapons, wingman interactions, and incredible between-mission interludes where he was talking to people and climbing a kill board and socializing and doing stuff, and WOW! It was called Wing Commander, and I had to have it. And I did! Took a while—no Steam back in those days, kids—and I recall that my own rig didn't run it nearly as well as his. But damn, it was good—totally lived up to the self-induced hype. Shame about the rest of the series.
Jarred Walton: Baldur's Gate 2
I've sort of fallen out of love with D&D games, but for most of my early years and into my twenties, I devoured anything and everything D&D. I played the tabletop version as well, but that took more time and often involved a lot of arguing about rules and other stuff. With the computer games, going back to the SSI Gold Box and Pool of Radiance, I didn't have to roll dice, track stats, etc. Anyway, Baldur's Gate was one of my favorite games, and when the sequel was announced I pre-ordered as soon as I was able. Thankfully it didn't disappoint.
Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn arrived on a Thursday. I skipped the remainder of my classes at uni and waited for the mail to arrive, as I had paid extra for express shipping. As soon as the box arrived I commenced the install process. I also had the foresight to stock up on Mt. Dew, Dr. Pepper, and Totino's pizzas, and I barely left my room much for the next five days. I definitely didn't bother showering. I ripped through the entire game, including most side quests, by Sunday. My roommates all laughed at my insanity, but two of them were secretly just jealous. The only real casualty was my grades.
Samuel Roberts: GTA 5
Like Andy, it was GTA 5 for me. It promised GTA 4's detail crossed with the openness of San Andreas. I kept thinking about that idea for months after watching the above trailer, which when the Lazer jet flies over Los Santos for one brief moment near the end, made me do a little somersault inside my brain.
I was so hyped, in fact, that I audaciously booked a meeting room for two whole days at my old workplace while I reviewed it. More important people with folders and computers would walk past, looking for a place to meet, and see me in there with my legs practically up on the table while I shot down police helicopters on a giant TV. That's what meeting rooms are for.
Some choices from the PC Gamer Club
Thanks to those who contributed this week via the PC Gamer Club Discord. User Imbaer says, "Vermintide 2 for me. I played Vermintide 1 for close to 1700 hours so when they announced Vermintide 2 I pre-ordered it as soon as it was possible pretty much (one of the rare cases where I pre-ordered a game). I was right to be excited because Vermintide 2 ended up being my main game now instead and I still play it regularly to this day."
User Marko goes for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord. "I'd say Bannerlord is the game I've been the most excited about ever since its announcement because I spent more than two thousand hours playing the multiplayer of its predecessor (Warband), and the prospect of a game like Warband but bigger, better looking, more advanced, moddable etc. seems like potentially the greatest game ever to me." Topperfalkon adds this: "Also Bannerlord for me. I love Warband and the general idea behind it, but stuff like sieges were janky as shit in Warband, hoping when Bannerlord finally does come we'll be able to see the improvements."
Here's a neat one from Logicbomb82: "In response to your question, It was Pirates of the Burning Sea in 2005. Sid Meier's Pirates in MMO form with more features! I was beyond excited. The Flying Labs teams was at Gencon and I met with them and got some sweet swag. They took my email address down and said they'd send me a beta key, which they did. Still got the mug! :)" A picture was included of the mug, which we've cropped here to fit our website:
User Truzen opts for playing Minecraft in the year 2018. "Yeah, I know it's been out for quite some time, but because it's not on any of the storefronts (Steam, Origin, etc), I would always forget about it. Just picked it up today and installing it as we speak, but I'm excited to play the game that arguably mainstreamed survival crafting. Plus it'll be interesting to experience something that has become part of the Maker/Computer Science community."
Finally, here's a cool story from user WinD about The Witcher 2. "The most excited I have been for a game release has to be when I received an email from the office of Adam Badowski, Head of CD Projekt RED studio on the 17th of September 2009. Inside was included full press access with an FTP username and password. Below that information was a message that read, 'We deeply value your continued support of our game The Witcher. You posted one of the first North American video reviews for The Witcher and continued with numerous playthrough videos on YouTube. You have been selected as a CD Projekt Red 'Community Influencer'. With this title comes great responsibility to report the rewards within the FTP directories to the world. Duettaeánn aef cirrán Cáerme Gláeddyv. Yn á esseáth. vatt'ghern twe. a'taeghane aen'drean aép 'FTP' glosse evn'gesaen y Temeria.'
"This is in the Elder Tongue / Elvish language used in The Witcher, no translation had been given although I was able to figure it out from a Polish website dedicated to the book series and game. 'The Sword of Destiny has two edges. You are one of them. The Witcher 2 today enter in to (the) 'FTP' to look and watch. Ambassador of Temeria.' We really want to hear what you and your friends think about our game, that is why we have given you hi-quality assets intended for editors from gaming media. On the FTP server you will find a brand new video, screenshots and documents you might use in your work. We would appreciate it if you would spread the word using your own social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.).
va faill (farewell)
Adam Badowski, Head of CD Projekt RED studio.'
Inside the FTP was the debut trailer for The Witcher 2 alongside screenshots and documentation regarding the REDengine. I was so excited I could not wait to spread the word and to eventually get the play the game. Although I had to wait quite a while (May 17th, 2011), the wait was worth it. The Witcher 2 became my all time favorite role-playing game. I have played The Witcher 2 nine times twice using Nvidia 3D Vision which in my opinion is the best example of Nvidia 3D Vision. I built a brand new PC for the release of the game and it was not until 2012 that I upgraded SLI GPUs and could play the game on the very demanding UberSampling option. While The Witcher 3 had me more excited and surpassed The Witcher 2 as my favorite RPG, this was a special and personal reveal of the game for me. I've never had a feeling that could quite emulate that experience."
Now a "fierce and capable survivor", Clementine has reached the final chapter in her journey. The footage shows off the episodic adventure's new camera and art style, and how Clem—once need protecting herself—has become the protector.
Providing you don't mind spoilers or a bit of gore, check it out for yourself:
"After years on the road facing threats both living and dead, a secluded school might finally be her chance for a home," teases Telltale. "But protecting it will mean sacrifice. Clem must build a life and become a leader while still watching over AJ, an orphaned boy and the closest thing to family she has left. In this gripping and emotional final season, you will define your relationships, fight the undead, and determine how Clementine’s story ends."
The final installment of the emotional series promises a "gut-wrenching story", heightened tension, better control via its new over-the-shoulder camera, and a "striking" new visual style.
Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season's first episode is out August 14, 2018 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Pre-orders can secure the complete season with a 10 percent discount off the full £19/$18 price.
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The third episode of 2016's Hitman is available to try for free, but hurry—it's one of those "limited time only" things.
You can grab the full Hitman: Summer Pack episode now from Steam and get access to the full content—including the campaign mission, Escalation Contracts, 20 levels of location mastery and 120+ challenges (although not any Bonus Episode content)—for the next ten days. Here's what you get:
ICA Facility Location:
2 story missions
2 Escalation Contracts
40+ Challenges
17 achievements / Trophies
Marrakesh Location offers:
‘The Gilded Gage’ story mission
8 Escalation Contracts
20 levels of Marrakesh Mastery (including 6 gear/weapon unlocks)
90+ Challenges
7 achievements / Trophies
Future Re-activated Elusive Targets in Marrakesh
And more.
"As with any Hitman level, Marrakesh promises players the lure of voyeurism and the thrill of infiltration and it’s something we’ve been working hard on getting just right," says developer io Interactive.
"Offering two targets, the “Gilded Cage” mission challenges players to eliminate private banker Claus Strandberg, held up inside the secure Swedish Consulate, and army General Reza Zaydan, protected by his elite squad of soldiers at a temporary headquarters in the heart of the city. Both targets will be challenging to reach and both will, of course, have some entertaining special moments attached to them that will allow players to dole out some poetic justice."
Access to the Summer Pack only lasts until July 31, 2018, but any saved progress will transfer to the full game if/when purchased.
Hitman is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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I looked at the Steam Top Sellers list yesterday morning and noticed that No Man's Sky was sitting at number 12. This was just for my region—on the global top sellers it sat around 34th place at the same time—but it represents a bump in recent sales of Hello Games' space sandbox. And surely those sales are the result of the trailer for No Man's Sky's fourth free expansion, Next, which shows the upcoming multiplayer features.
While Steam doesn't give us any indication of how many new copies are being sold, it still feels kind of remarkable to see NMS climbing the Top Sellers list because Next hasn't arrived yet: it comes out on July 24. In a way, this makes copies of No Man's Sky being bought now a bit like a pre-order—you can obviously play the game and first three expansions, but you'll have to wait until next week to see how the multiplayer in Next really is.
Which means the game that came out in the summer of 2016 that deeply disappointed so many players who had pre-ordered it based on its impressive trailer is once again selling copies (and still, by the way, at the launch day price of $60) based on an impressive trailer. Round and round we go.
The hype and excitement for No Man's Sky is back! Yes, it's definitely (and thankfully) a dim shadow of the stratospheric hype prior to the original launch, but a look through the No Man's Sky subreddit (which has gained 2,000 new followers this week), and the fact it's creeping back into the Steam's Top Sellers list show that a lot of people are incredibly pumped to play Next when it arrives.
This reaction isn't out of the blue. Hello Games has spent the time since that troubled initial launch working (mostly very quietly) to produce three big, free updates. Those expansions added a lot of new player-requested features like base-building and base-sharing, ground-based vehicles, new lore and story quests, additional planet types, interaction tools for players to communicate with each other, plus a ton of tweaks, fixes, and improvements that have enhanced everything from the visuals to the UI. The updates have been well-received, which is reflected in No Man's Sky's 'recent' Steam reviews, most of which are positive. (This is including a sizable spike in positive reviews over the three days since the trailer appeared.)
There are also plenty of players for whom the hype has never really subsided: lots of people who enjoyed No Man's Sky from day one and have continued to play it since its release in 2016. They've been supportive and positive (and patient!) throughout the entire life of NMS. So, it's natural they're pumped: the game they've always enjoyed is getting even more free stuff.
Being hyped for a game you already own that's getting a bunch of new stuff added is perfectly understandable, but if there's something that worries me a bit, it's posts like the one shown in the image at the top of the page that reads: "Next is everything I wanted and more." And I've seen a few posts from people saying they're thinking about buying the game now, before Next actually arrives.
It's those kinds of posts and comments giving me this "here we go again" feeling. Deciding No Man's Sky was everything we wanted based on a trailer that didn't accurately reflect the game at launch, putting expectations so sky-high that they had so much farther to fall, is what made the reaction to No Man's Sky so explosive the first time around.
It's not quite the same situation with Next: we've seen and played No Man's Sky, we've seen steady improvements over the past two years, and the expansions so far have been, as far as I can tell, faithful to what we were told they'd be. I'm guessing, at the absolute minimum, the multiplayer features described will actually be in the game this time. I am fairly confident this will not be a repeat of 2016.
So, sure, yeah, we can get pumped! We can be excited and we can be hopeful. Heck, I'm excited to try the expansion, too. The multiplayer in Next both looks and sounds like it could be a lot of fun, and I'm personally eager to check it out myself. It also doesn't sound like Next is the end of the road for No Man's Sky: the post on Hello Games' site states it's "just another step in a longer journey", so it sounds like further expansions or improvements could be next (after Next).
But by now we know, or at least we should know, the dangers of too much hype and the peril of expecting a game (or expansion) to be everything we want it to be (and more!) before we've actually played it. Be excited, be hopeful, but let's not launch the hype rocket before the actual launch of Next.
