A passion project that snowballed into an industry-wide phenomenon, No Man’s Sky’s very premise as a space-exploration game vowed to deliver so much more than the moon. Developer Hello Games established the parameters for an interactive universe replete with star systems, unique lifeforms, and 18 quintillion planets, all made possible through the power of procedural generation. Optimists bought into the fanfare; skeptics thought it too good to be true. Ultimately, Hello Games would have the final say.