Hello Games An image from ‘No Man’s Sky.’

Disappointed gamers have failed to get advertising for the universe exploration game “No Man’s Sky” banned after the UK advertising regulator failed to find evidence it was “misleading.”

“No Man’s Sky” has not been well-received by many people in the gaming community since it launched in August.

Players have previously vented their frustrations that the game’s initial ad campaign from developer Hello Games, overpromised the features that appear in the final product.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 23 complaints about the game’s storefront on the online gaming platform Steam. The page included trailers, screenshots, and text description of the game.

The complainants argued that “some of the game content was not as depicted or described” and challenged whether the ad was “misleading.”

In response to the complaints, Hello Games explained that unlike many other games, each users’ experience is very different so it “would be difficult to recreate exact scenes from the ad.” The game content is generated by an algorithm that determined the probability of a player encountering a specific creature, physiology, or one of its “18 quintillion planets” and each player starts on their own unique planet, so the outcome of each game is almost infinite.

Hello Games added that the ad was produced using a gaming PC of “average specification” and the quality of the graphics shown in the ad was “inferior” to the graphics the game was capable of exhibiting. The company also responded to specific complaints about the way in which “No Man’s Sky’s” gameplay was advertised.

The ASA took into account several specific complaints in its investigation.

It acknowledged that the user interface design and aiming system had “undergone cosmetic changes” since the footage for the trailers was recorded. However, the ASA stated in its ruling: “We did not consider that these elements would affect a consumer’s decision to purchase the game, as they were superficial and incidental components in relation to the core gameplay mechanics and features.”

ASA The ‘No Man’s Sky’ landing page on the Steam store.

Other complaints referred to buildings, structures, battles, ships, and animals that appear in the footage but allegedly not in the game — or at least looked substantially different in the final product. However, on each occasion, the ASA found the objects in the final game were similar enough to the advertising and were therefore unlikely to mislead people.

Some complaints referred to the trailers and screenshots exaggerating the quality of the in-game graphics. However, the ASA considered that consumers would “generally be aware” that the graphical output of the game would be affected by the specifications of their computers.

Another complained-about issue was text in the ads that stated: “Fly smoothly from deep space to planetary surfaces, with no loading screens and no limits.” Players took issue with the statement because the game displays a “warp” sequence when travelling between systems — similar to a loading screen.

The ASA took into account that the screen only displayed when travelling between systems — not travelling from space to a planet’s surface, for example, which is more of a common occurrence in the game — and that it didn’t represent an interruption to the gameplay experience. Again, the ASA ruled that this was not a misleading element of “No Man’s Sky’s” marketing.

The ASA concluded in its ruling:

“We understood that the screenshots and videos in the ad had been created using game footage, and acknowledged that in doing this the advertisers would aim to show the product in the best light. Taking into account the above points, we considered that the overall impression of the ad was consistent with gameplay and the footage provided, both in terms of that captured by Hello Games and by third parties, and that it did not exaggerate the expected player experience of the game. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code.”

Hello Games announced its first major update to “No Man’s Sky” earlier this month, adding more content and improving existing features.

Business Insider Emails & Alerts Site highlights each day to your inbox. Email Address Join

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.