This is where we've come as a society -- it is 2020 and we now have semi-voice acted renditions of Sean Murray erotic fanfic. To kick off 2020, short essay (and meme lord) YouTube channel Internet Historian has decided to cover the No Man's Sky debacle, from the game's earliest days, its infamous fall from grace, and the renaissance it has experienced since then. Of course, hiding at the end of the video essay was a semi-animated rendition of an erotic fan fiction, all centered around Hello Games, Sean Murray, and No Man's Sky.For a quick primer on Internet Historian, the YouTube channel is generally beloved among the gaming scene. Covering major internet events, this typically collides with gaming subjects, including the trainwreck launch of Fallout 76. Not purporting to be a journalist or anything other than satire, Internet Historian is known to bring a surprising about of insight and brevity into serious events that happen around the Internet. And yes... this includes the overhype and disastrous launch of Hello Games and Sean Murray's No Man's Sky. With that said -- the interesting wrinkle to the story is the end-credits of the video. After 49 minutes doing a deep dive examination into the launch, the complaints, the journalistic spin, and everything in-between, Internet Historian takes a slight... detour. Shifting in tone, he wanted to debut a fanfiction that was written four years ago on Reddit. Even better, he would be both reading and animating in his typical meme-y fashion. If you are interested (and who isn't?!) you can check out that section of the video, below:

Of course, the article title isn't "a Sean Murray erotic fanfic exists" -- so where does the man himself step into the equation? Following the debut and rise of this video, No Man's Sky producer Sean Murray took to his Twitter account telling people to "UNDER. NO. CIRCUMSTANCES." watch beyond the 45-minute mark (around the time the fanfic part starts):

Soon enough, the panic sets in -- Sean Murray (obviously sarcastically) shows worry that it is trending and asks how he can delete someone else's content:

However, much like the development tale of No Man's Sky, everything ends on a good note. We get one last Tweet from Sean Murray covering this debacle, noting that maybe everything is okay. Attached is a picture of No Man's Sky rising to the top of Steam following the rise in popularity.

And that rise in success is notable. Much like the skyrocketing player numbers of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt after the surge of popularity from the Netflix adaptation, so too has Hello Games benefitted from this video. According to the current list of Top Sellers on Steam, the game is maintaining a #6 spot on the list, falling behind giants like the recently launched Monster Hunter World: Iceborne expansion, the PC port of Red Dead Redemption 2, and other hits from 2019. Additionally, digital tracker Steam Charts has shown up to a tripling of growth -- from 2500 concurrent players to around 7500.

Moral of the story? Maybe we need a Todd Howard fanfic to help revive Fallout 76.

In all seriousness, if you have an hour today it is worth checking out the video essay in full. Breaking down the saga in a fair and understandable way, Internet Historian comes to the conclusion that the No Man's Sky team had been the victim of overhyping, crazy setbacks, and a games 'journalism' tornado that would have been impossible for them to meet on their budget. While they didn't help themselves with early promises, they have since made up for the initial launch and are firmly the "good guys" as compared to other major development studios.

In any case, No Man's Sky is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. If you haven't the title (or were one of the many to return it), you can pick up a physical copy on Amazon to help support the site.