No Man's Sky developer Hello Games has revealed a three-year long lawsuit brought by broadcasting giant Sky.

The legal dispute, over the use of 'Sky' in the game's name, has only come to light now it has been concluded.

"We finally settled with Sky (they own the word 'Sky')," Hello Games boss Sean Murray revealed on Twitter over the weekend.

"We can call our game No Man's Sky. Three years of secret stupid legal nonsense over."

Hello Games has not divulged exactly how the lawsuit was settled, or how much money might have changed hands.

The lawsuit may seem frivolous - Sky is not in the habit of making games, and the likelihood of any brand confusion seems minimal.

But for the British indie studio, Murray has said, the legal battle was a genuine concern.

"This is the same folks who made Microsoft change Skydrive to Onedrive..." he added. "So it was pretty serious."

After a recent delay, No Man's Sky will now launch on 9th August. If the game had been forced into a name change, it would have been a last minute scramble to sort out.