Sean Murray just delivered one of gaming’s most perfect clapbacks after No Man’s Sky fans discovered that survival MMO Once Human is selling what appears to be a stolen asset from his game in premium lootboxes. Instead of threatening lawsuits or issuing angry statements, Murray dropped a single tweet on December 2nd that perfectly encapsulates his response: “Joke’s on them, we forgot to LOD those rivets.” Translation? The asset they stole is technically broken and could cause performance problems. The gaming community immediately crowned this as one of the greatest responses to asset theft in industry history.
What Actually Got Stolen
The controversy exploded when Reddit user Koyonaku posted side-by-side comparisons of No Man’s Sky’s Base Teleport Module and Once Human’s Lightwheel Hoop premium furniture item to the No Man’s Sky subreddit on November 30. The similarities are impossible to ignore. The shape, design, circular patterns, and distinctive rivets around the rim look virtually identical, with the only differences being an exercise bike added to the center and possibly a color change.
What made this particularly egregious is how Once Human monetizes the item. In No Man’s Sky, the Base Teleport Module is a standard progression item that players naturally build and use as they explore. It’s free, functional, and integral to gameplay. In Once Human, that same design appears as the Lightwheel Hoop, sold as a top-tier reward in the Thunder Overload Lightforge Lootcrate – a premium gambling system requiring players to purchase special currency called Crystgin to draw random loot boxes.
The lootbox mechanics work through a gacha-style system where each draw has a chance to award premium cosmetic items. A pity system guarantees returns every 20 draws, but acquiring these items can cost significant real money. The fact that Once Human is potentially profiting from stolen intellectual property through predatory lootbox mechanics multiplied community outrage exponentially.
Murray’s Technical Burn Explained
Sean Murray’s response demonstrates both technical knowledge and perfect comedic timing. When he mentioned forgetting to LOD those rivets, he was referring to Level of Detail optimization – a fundamental game development technique that creates lower-quality versions of 3D models for when players view them from a distance. Proper LOD implementation prevents performance issues by reducing polygon counts and texture resolution on distant objects.
By admitting Hello Games forgot to create LOD versions of those decorative rivets on the teleporter rim, Murray was essentially saying “congratulations, you stole a technically flawed asset that could tank your game’s performance.” Those rivets would render at full detail regardless of distance, potentially causing unnecessary GPU load and frame rate drops – exactly the kind of optimization oversight developers usually catch before release.
The gaming community immediately recognized the genius of this response:
- It acknowledges the theft without seeming overly concerned or litigious
- It demonstrates technical superiority by pointing out a flaw the thieves probably didn’t notice
- It suggests Once Human’s developers either didn’t understand what they stole or didn’t bother checking the asset quality
- It makes Hello Games look professional while making the thieves look incompetent
- It generates massive publicity without requiring legal action or public drama
Reddit users dubbed the response “evil genius” and praised Murray for handling asset theft with humor rather than rage. One commenter noted that leaving flawed assets in your game might actually be a brilliant anti-theft strategy since anyone stealing them inherits the technical problems.
This Isn’t Once Human’s First Rodeo
What makes this controversy particularly damning is that Once Human has a documented history of stealing assets from other games. In a previous incident, the development team at Starry Studio was caught using Rainbow Six Siege’s Caveira operator icon as the Hush Weapon Charm in their battle pass with absolutely no changes whatsoever. When fans pointed out the blatant theft from Ubisoft’s popular tactical shooter, the developers quietly removed the item and replaced it with different artwork featuring distinct colors and new line art.
The pattern suggests systemic problems within Once Human’s art and asset pipeline rather than isolated mistakes. Either the studio lacks proper asset verification processes, or they’re deliberately stealing from other games hoping nobody notices. Given that Once Human is developed by Starry Studio and published by NetEase – a massive Chinese gaming conglomerate worth billions – the lack of original assets feels particularly inexcusable.
The community reaction has been brutal. Steam users are discussing whether to delete the game entirely, with many expressing shock at discovering Once Human employs expensive cosmetic lootboxes in the first place. Others note that sponsored content creators conveniently omitted these predatory monetization details when promoting the game, raising questions about influencer marketing ethics.
The Developer Finally Responds
After days of silence while the controversy spread across Reddit, Twitter, and gaming news sites, Starry Studio finally issued a statement acknowledging the problem. The developer pledged to replace the asset in question and announced they’re undertaking a thorough review to strengthen internal art and design policies. They thanked community members who brought the issue to their attention, claiming the feedback helps them improve.
The response feels like standard corporate damage control rather than genuine accountability. The statement carefully avoids admitting wrongdoing, using passive language like “the asset in question” instead of directly acknowledging theft. There’s no apology to Hello Games or Sean Murray specifically, no explanation for how this happened, and no mention of compensating players who already spent money on the lootboxes containing the stolen asset.
IGN reached out to Starry Studio for additional comment but the developer has provided no further clarification. The lack of transparency raises questions about whether Once Human will actually implement meaningful changes or simply replace this one asset and continue business as usual until the next controversy erupts.
What This Means for Asset Theft
The Once Human controversy highlights ongoing problems with intellectual property enforcement in the gaming industry, particularly involving studios operating in jurisdictions with historically weak copyright protections. While China has made strides improving intellectual property laws since 2021, enforcement remains inconsistent and pursuing legal action across international borders proves expensive and time-consuming.
For indie developers and small studios like Hello Games, the practical reality is that legal action often costs more than the stolen assets are worth. Even if Hello Games could prove deliberate theft and win a court case, collecting damages from a Chinese developer backed by NetEase would require years of international litigation with no guaranteed outcome. This power imbalance allows larger studios to steal from smaller ones with minimal consequences.
Some developers have started implementing digital watermarking and fingerprinting techniques in their assets specifically to catch thieves. Bethesda famously used a similar strategy in a legal case where the absence of proper LOD optimization helped demonstrate asset theft. Murray’s joke about the unoptimized rivets might actually serve as evidence if Hello Games ever pursued legal action, since that specific flaw would be nearly impossible to recreate independently.
The gaming community plays a crucial role in catching these cases. Without eagle-eyed No Man’s Sky fans noticing the similarities and amplifying the issue on social media, Once Human might have continued selling stolen assets indefinitely. Community vigilance combined with public shame through viral posts often proves more effective than legal threats at forcing developers to address asset theft.
Sean Murray’s Redemption Arc Continues
Murray’s measured, humorous response to asset theft marks another chapter in one of gaming’s most remarkable redemption stories. When No Man’s Sky launched in 2016, the game faced catastrophic backlash for missing features that Murray had discussed during the multi-year marketing campaign. Critics accused him of lying to customers, and the launch became a cautionary tale about overpromising and underdelivering.
Instead of abandoning the project or making excuses, Hello Games spent years releasing free updates that gradually transformed No Man’s Sky into the game fans originally expected. The Breach and Voyagers updates in 2024 helped the game achieve its best-ever player numbers, nearly a decade after its controversial launch. Murray’s willingness to admit mistakes, work tirelessly on improvements, and maintain a sense of humor through adversity has earned back enormous goodwill.
His response to the Once Human situation exemplifies this matured perspective. Rather than raging about theft or threatening lawsuits, he made a self-deprecating joke that simultaneously acknowledged the problem, demonstrated technical expertise, and made the thieves look foolish. It’s exactly the kind of response you’d expect from someone who’s learned that maintaining dignity and humor through controversy serves better than aggressive posturing.
FAQs
What asset did Once Human allegedly steal from No Man’s Sky?
Once Human’s Lightwheel Hoop premium furniture item appears to be a direct copy of No Man’s Sky’s Base Teleport Module, with near-identical shape, design, circular patterns, and distinctive rivets. The only differences are an exercise bike added to the center and possible color changes.
What did Sean Murray mean by forgot to LOD those rivets?
LOD stands for Level of Detail – a technique where games create lower-quality versions of 3D models for distant viewing to improve performance. Murray was joking that the decorative rivets on the teleporter weren’t optimized, meaning anyone who stole the asset inherited a technically flawed model that could cause performance issues.
Is Once Human removing the stolen asset?
Yes, developer Starry Studio issued a statement on December 3, 2024 pledging to replace the asset in question and conduct a thorough review to strengthen internal art and design policies. However, they provided no timeline or details about compensating players who purchased lootboxes containing the item.
Has Once Human stolen assets before?
Yes, Once Human previously used Rainbow Six Siege’s Caveira operator icon as the Hush Weapon Charm in their battle pass with no modifications. When fans discovered the theft from Ubisoft’s game, developers quietly removed and replaced it with different artwork.
How much does the Lightwheel Hoop cost in Once Human?
The Lightwheel Hoop is sold through the Thunder Overload Lightforge Lootcrate system, requiring players to purchase Crystgin currency for random draws. It’s positioned as a high-tier reward, and the gacha mechanics mean acquiring it can cost significant real money depending on luck and the pity system.
Who develops Once Human?
Once Human is developed by Starry Studio and published by NetEase, a major Chinese gaming conglomerate. The game is a free-to-play survival MMO that monetizes through premium cosmetic items and lootbox systems.
Can Hello Games sue Once Human for asset theft?
While Hello Games could potentially pursue legal action for copyright infringement, international lawsuits are expensive and time-consuming with uncertain outcomes. Many developers find that public shaming through community exposure proves more effective than costly litigation, especially across jurisdictions with different intellectual property enforcement standards.
Conclusion
Sean Murray’s response to Once Human’s apparent asset theft demonstrates how reputation and goodwill matter more than legal threats in modern gaming. By making a self-deprecating technical joke instead of issuing cease-and-desist letters, he generated massive positive publicity while simultaneously exposing the thieves’ incompetence. The fact that Once Human has a documented pattern of stealing assets from multiple games suggests systemic problems that a single replacement won’t fix. For No Man’s Sky fans, this controversy represents another victory lap in their beloved game’s redemption arc, with Murray once again proving he’s learned from past mistakes and emerged as one of gaming’s most respected figures. The gaming community’s role in catching and amplifying asset theft remains crucial since legal enforcement across international borders proves impractical for smaller studios. Whether Once Human actually implements meaningful changes or simply waits for the next controversy to blow over remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – they picked the wrong game to steal from.