Light No Fire is shaping up to be one of Hello Games' most ambitious projects yet. First revealed in 2023, the next game from the creators of No Man's Sky will take place on a massive procedurally generated planet comparable in size to Earth. Exploration, survival, building, cooperation, rideable creatures, and gigantic oceans will be at the heart of this fantasy adventure designed to evolve over the long term. Here's everything we know about the game since its announcement.
Light No Fire Wants to Offer an Entire Planet to Explore
Unlike No Man's Sky and its countless planets, Light No Fire will focus its entire experience on a single shared world.
Hello Games describes this planet as an Earth-scale procedural playground, without the traditional boundaries of an open world. Mountains, forests, rivers, oceans, resources, enemies, and different regions are expected to form an environment vast enough that some players could discover places that have never been visited before.
Exploration will therefore be at the heart of the experience. Players will be able to travel across the world on foot, ride certain creatures, and even use flying dragons to cover huge distances.
The studio wants to combine this freedom with survival, building, and role-playing mechanics in an ancient fantasy universe filled with mysteries.
Light No Fire's Oceans Will Require Real Expeditions
Sean Murray has confirmed that Light No Fire will feature real oceans designed to be crossed aboard large ships with multiple crew members. Hello Games is notably reusing some of the technology developed for No Man's Sky's large multiplayer ships to allow players to sail together.
These enormous bodies of water will not simply serve as barriers between neighboring islands. They are intended to become an important part of long-distance travel and exploration.
However, the studio has not revealed how long crossing an ocean will actually take. Claims suggesting that some journeys could require several real-world days therefore remain speculation.
Ship speeds, potential fast-travel systems, and other ways of crossing this enormous planet have yet to be detailed.
Building, Cooperation, and Combat Will Be at the Heart of Light No Fire
Light No Fire will allow players to set out on their own, but Hello Games is also placing a strong emphasis on multiplayer. Players will be able to meet other explorers, travel together, and create buildings as well as persistent communities. Early footage has already shown houses and settlements being built.
This persistence could give the game a dimension closer to building an actual civilization rather than simply surviving in a traditional survival game.
Combat will also be part of the experience. Swords, shields, and bows have already been shown in battles against various creatures and imposing enemies.
Hello Games wants to add RPG-inspired depth to these systems, although details surrounding quests, skills, equipment, and character progression remain largely unknown.
Hello Games Wants to Support Light No Fire for Many Years
Light No Fire is being developed as a project intended to evolve long after launch. In August 2026, Sean Murray said he hopes to still be working on the game ten years after its release, following a philosophy similar to the one adopted with No Man's Sky. He also said he had personally been working on Light No Fire for around seven years.
Hello Games is currently choosing to remain relatively quiet about development. The studio had initially planned a much larger presentation following the first trailer, but the public reaction encouraged the team to continue working on the game without revealing too much too early.
Many questions still surround the project, but its core concept is already remarkably clear. An Earth-sized planet, enormous oceans, persistent settlements, dragons, and large cooperative expeditions are set to form the foundation of this new fantasy world.