In No Man’s Sky, a patent infringement regarding a “super formula” is alleged. Will this affect the release?
“No Man’s Sky goes Gold” – This was proudly announced by the developers of Hello Games nearly two weeks ago. This means that the game has been completed on time before the official release. Therefore, nothing should stand in the way of the European launch on August 10th – or?
“Super Formula” for the creation of worlds causes problems
The ambitious space simulation does not seem to be in perfectly dry cloths yet: The Dutch company Genicap claims that No Man’s Sky utilizes a patented “super formula”, which ensures efficient generation of “2D and 3D images as well as animations”. The entire galaxy in No Man’s Sky is procedurally generated.
The said formula was conceived by Johan Gielis, who is now the Chief Research Officer at Genicap. In an interview with the newspaper De Telegraaf, Genicap co-founder Jeroen Sparrow stated that Hello Games did not license the “super formula” for No Man’s Sky.
According to Sparrow, they do not want to prevent the release of No Man’s Sky. However, they need to sit down together. Genicap allegedly plans to develop a gaming application based on this formula. They would also like to exchange ideas with Hello Games about this.
The lawyer Arnoud Engelfriet, also quoted in De Telegraaf, believes that this matter could develop into a bigger problem: “If the patent was indeed violated, the distribution of No Man’s Sky should be stopped and compensation paid.”
Hello Games and Sony have not yet released a statement regarding this. This is not the first legal dispute that No Man’s Sky has to endure: There were lengthy negotiations concerning naming rights with the pay-TV company Sky.
