Just when things were looking great for the much delayed No Man’s Sky again, it has landed in another soup. This time it’s some copyright trouble with regards to a mathematical equation called the Superformula which has been used in the game’s development.
A Dutch company owns the patent to this formula, and has just decided to object to its unapproved use in the upcoming game. Johan Gielis, a professor from the University of Antwerp apparently developed this equation during the early 2000s, and got it patented in the European Union in 2002 and the US in 2009.
The incredibly powerful Superformula used by No Man’s Sky is capable of procedurally generating landscapes using very limited computer resources. So far, Johan Gielis and his company Genicap haven’t said anything about suing developer Hello Games, but it has indeed issued a statement to Eurogamer which has threatening undertones.
It says that the way Hello Games has used the formula is ‘very impressive,’ but also asserts that ‘at some stage we will have to get to the table.’ With No Man’s Sky having gone gold already and being just three weeks away from its release, this definitely spells trouble for the makers.
This highly anticipated title happens to be a unique action-adventure survival game which transpires in a procedurally generated deterministic open universe. This world includes more than 18 quintillion planets, each with their own unique flora and fauna.
No Man’s Sky is slated to be released for the PS4 and PC on August 9. But with the copyright trouble now having come into the picture, it may be delayed once again. Let’s hope for the opposite though. You can pre-order the game right now through all major retailers.