No Man’s Sky Developer Settles Lawsuit With Sky TV

Hello Games settles 3-year lawsuit over use of the word "Sky".

No Man’s Sky developer, Hello Games, has settled a 3-year-long legal dispute over the name of their upcoming galactic explore-em-up.

Details of the lawsuit have been kept under wraps while the dispute was ongoing. But now that Hello Games has managed to reach a settlement, the studio has #revealed that UK-based broadcasting company Sky TV had objected to the use of the word “Sky” in the game’s title. The new came from company co-founder Sean Murray, who took to Twitter this weekend to briefly discuss the matter.

Details of the resolution - such as whether any money changed hands or how much, or the terms of the settlement - have not been divulged.

That Sky would object to a game’s title might surprise some - the company isn’t known for producing games, after all. These days, it’s perhaps best known for being the only place in the UK where you can watch Game of Thrones, and for making Britons confused about how on earth Sky News reporter Kay Burley continues to be in a job.

But while some may laugh at the preposterousness of it all, for Hello Games, the lawsuit was a thorn in their side throughout development and sparked worries over the company’s future. “This is the same folks who made Microsoft change Skydrive to Onedrive… so it was pretty serious,” Murray stated later, and said that “I now know more about trademark law than any sane man would ever want to.”

It seems that the tension hasn’t dulled the developer’s sense of humor, however. “On the plus side perhaps this is the real reason Skynet never happened,” he joked.

No Man’s Sky is finally due to arrive for PlayStation 4 on August 9th, following a small delay announced last month. The game will arrive on PC a few days later, on August 12th.

Chris Morgan

Chris Morgan

Founder, Editor in Chief
When Dale isn't crying over his keyboard about his never-ending workload, he's playing games - lots of them. Dale has a particular love for RPGs, Roguelikes and Metroidvanias.
Written By
Developer
Genre
Available On ,
 

Related posts

Top