In a very interesting turn of events, No Man’s Sky is getting investigated by the Advertising Standards community after receiving many complaints regarding the title. Many said that the released game did not match the promised one presented in screen shots and promotional material.
The watchdog launched its investigation after receiving “several complaints” about No Man’s Sky advertising.
The ASA has the power to have advertisements it believes are in breach of its code of conduct withdrawn, and prevent them from appearing again. If an advertiser refuses to comply with an ASA ruling, it can impose sanctions, such as asking internet search websites to remove a marketer’s paid-for search ads.
This extends to not just looking over press material, but also asking questions to No Man’s Sky studio Hello Games, Valve and even Sony itself.
The ASA has contacted both Hello Games and Valve and asked them to respond to a raft of questions relating to No Man’s Sky advertisements.
Complaints centre around screenshots and videos that feature more advanced animal behaviour, large-scale combat and ship-flying behaviour than ended up in the launch version of the game. Complainants also say screenshots misrepresent the graphical quality of the game.