No Man’s Sky under investigation for false advertising

It has been revealed in an article by Eurogamer that controversial space game No Man’s Sky is under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). According to the ASA, the game received multiple complaints lodged against it on the grounds of false advertising.

The ASA is a UK based advertising regulator who has jurisdiction over UK based organisations. One such organisation is Hello Games (developer of No Man’s Sky). According to the ASA website, the ASA has the power to request the removal or amendment of advertising found to be falsified and can bestow sanctions on non-complaint organisations. Sanctions that include asking “internet search websites to remove a marketer’s paid-for search advertisements.”

While the complaints were lodged specifically in reference to marketing used on the game’s Steam page – any ruling made by the ASA would apply to No Man’s Sky’s official YouTube page, as well as their listing on the PlayStation store.

The complaints reportedly revolve around the games graphical quality, the scale of combat, ship behaviour and animal behaviour and it’s currently unknown how long it may take for the ASA to make an official ruling.

No Man’s Sky initially launched to a very mixed reception, with some gamers feeling as though the product they received was not the one that was advertised. Many criticism revolved around the game’s lack of multiplayer and lack of space and territory combat, which gamers were lead to believe would be included the product. Other gamers enjoyed the experience No Man’s Sky offered, defending its content and attacking its critics for being too gullible to marketing or too entitled for content.

What do you think? Is this a breach of the advertising standards or an example of scorned, angry gamers looking for revenge?