No Man's Sky lead planned to show more Light No Fire, but "why do any marketing" when it's already topping Steam wishlists

In a complete 180 from its notoriously hype-driven marketing strategy for No Man's Sky, Hello Games has been quiet about its next release, Light No Fire. The studio's chosen not to do any major showcases – partly because it doesn't need to. Sean Murray, Hello Games' founder, explained to Kotaku in a new interview that Light No Fire has hardly appeared since 2023 because, "We've like shot up the Steam wishlist charts; we're like number two on there," he says. "And I was just like, 'OK, that's enough. You know, we don't need to say any more. Why? Why do any marketing?'"https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jKQem4Z6ioQ Light No Fire continues to ride high on Steam, still standing as the second most wishlisted game on the platform, behind Valve's own Deadlock. (You can find this information both on the Steam store itself and platform SteamDB). It's also currently ahead of Fable 4, Blight: Survival and Dear Passengers. Again, Murray's hesitance to give more details on fantasy planet adventure Light No Fire serves as sharp contrast to how Hello Games handled No Man's Sky. For that 2016 game, Hello Games' conference appearances were regular, Murray himself gave all sorts of television and media interviews, and preview spots had some pretty spectacular attendees; Steven Spielberg got to check it out behind closed doors at E3, for instance. "I look back and it’s madness. I sort of cringe at it," Murray says, indicating he'd rather not turn Light No Fire into a similar circus. I think that's wise, all told. Let the buzz generate organically, and when it's time to show more, do so. Being the second-most wanted game on Steam is already a pretty strong position to be in, after all. Light No Fire only has "between 12 and 20" devs, says lead – but that's ok because a similar number worked on No Man's Sky at launch. [/url]

Aug 11, 2026 - 01:08

No Man's Sky lead planned to show more Light No Fire, but "why do any marketing" when it's already topping Steam wishlists

In a complete 180 from its notoriously hype-driven marketing strategy for No Man's Sky, Hello Games has been quiet about its next release, Light No Fire. The studio's chosen not to do any major showcases – partly because it doesn't need to.

Sean Murray, Hello Games' founder, explained to Kotaku in a new interview that Light No Fire has hardly appeared since 2023 because, "We've like shot up the Steam wishlist charts; we're like number two on there," he says. "And I was just like, 'OK, that's enough. You know, we don't need to say any more. Why? Why do any marketing?'"

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jKQem4Z6ioQ Light No Fire continues to ride high on Steam, still standing as the second most wishlisted game on the platform, behind Valve's own Deadlock. (You can find this information both on the Steam store itself and platform SteamDB). It's also currently ahead of Fable 4, Blight: Survival and Dear Passengers.

Again, Murray's hesitance to give more details on fantasy planet adventure Light No Fire serves as sharp contrast to how Hello Games handled No Man's Sky. For that 2016 game, Hello Games' conference appearances were regular, Murray himself gave all sorts of television and media interviews, and preview spots had some pretty spectacular attendees; Steven Spielberg got to check it out behind closed doors at E3, for instance.

"I look back and it’s madness. I sort of cringe at it," Murray says, indicating he'd rather not turn Light No Fire into a similar circus. I think that's wise, all told. Let the buzz generate organically, and when it's time to show more, do so. Being the second-most wanted game on Steam is already a pretty strong position to be in, after all.

Light No Fire only has "between 12 and 20" devs, says lead – but that's ok because a similar number worked on No Man's Sky at launch.

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