Eurogamer reports that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is currently investigating developer Hello Games as well as Valve over the way No Man’s Sky was advertised on Steam.
The ASA claims that they had been getting several complaints about the game’s false advertising, and if they find that these allegations have merit then they have the power to withdraw said advertisements.
Also, if the ruling is resisted then the ASA can reach out to internet search providers to remove all paid ads that include the game.
A thread on the No Man Sky’s subreddit details some of the most prominent issues Steam users have with the game’s store page, which they passed on to the organization.
Screens and video on Steam suggest a different type of combat, unique buildings, “ship flying behaviour” and creature sizes than what’s found in the actual game itself. The store page overall has also been criticized for showing No Man’s Sky with higher quality graphics than can be attained in-game.
No Man’s Sky launched in August on PC and PS4 without a number of features that director Sean Murray discussed prior to launch, which the game and its creators were criticized for.
