No Man’s Sky fans say an asset from the sci-fi sandbox game was repurposed for sale on Once Human without permission — and now the head of Hello Games has gotten involved.
No Man’s Sky fans will continue this week reddit marked an “extremely similar” cosmetic item in Once Human that is now being sold within the post-apocalyptic survival title as a high-tier loot box reward. The object, a circular teleportation module in No Man’s Sky, appears to have been transformed into a sort of sci-fi exercise bike, with the addition of a basic bike frame and a fresh paint job.
Now the controversy has spread beyond reddit to Sean Murray, head of No Man’s Sky developer Hello Games, after fans reported their suspicions. Murray’s response? This was an expression of amusement more than anything else, as he was reacting to the apparent employ of this resource elsewhere.
“The joke is on them,” Murray wrote in post on X. “We forgot about the LOD of these nits,” he continued, referring to the lack of a lower quality object model when viewed from a distance – which can cause performance issues.
Writing about the similarities between the two properties on Reddit, No Man’s Sky fan Koyonaku noted that the Only Human version “cannot be obtained through gameplay – it can only be obtained as a top-tier reward from a premium loot box, often at significant cost.” This isn’t the first time Only Human has been suspected of basing its in-game resources on other games, the user claims.
“This was reported a few days ago in the Once Human community, but the item is still being sold without explanation or adjustments,” Koyonaku wrote. “There was a similar case in the past regarding the icon’s resemblance to Rainbow Six, which was quietly replaced. I’m not here to cause drama or accuse anyone of legal malpractice. However, I believe there are times when silence allows such things to be treated as normal.”
IGN has reached out to Only Human developer Starry Studio for comment.
Nearly a decade after its launch, No Man’s Sky recently celebrated its highest player count ever following the release of the Breach and Voyagers updates earlier this year. The Breach update allows players to salvage wrecks, unlocking up-to-date shipbuilding parts along the way, while Voyagers has added multiplayer ship crewing and parachute jumping capabilities, among other features.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s news editor. You can contact Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
