PlayStation Store offering refunds for No Man's Sky pre-orders

UPDATE: No Man's Sky Lead Developer Sean Murray confirmed via Twitter that the December 31 date is indeed a standard placeholder and not another delay.

A couple weeks ago, everybody got word that No Man's Sky, originally scheduled for a June 21 launch, is now delayed until August 9.

The PlayStation Store lagged for a few days in showing the new release date. And once the PS Store did, it didn't put the new August 9 date—it put December 31. That's obviously a generic placeholder for "It's releasing this year, we just don't know when."

An odd decision to basically leave the launch date up in the air like that, especially when developer Hello Games (re-) nailed it down to August 9.

Regardless, emails have gone out from the PlayStation Store to people that've pre-ordered No Man's Sky. If you don't confirm by 11:59 p.m. PST on June 16 that you still want your pre-order, then the PS Store will cancel your pre-order and refund your money. This is the first time I've had this kind of offer, but I don't make a habit of pre-ordering games; and this is the first game I've pre-ordered that's been delayed. Sounds like standard operating procedure for the PS Store, but I wouldn't know firsthand.

Even though you don't get jack for pre-ordering No Man's Sky except a handful of avatars, I'm letting No Man's Sky keep my money. It's basically a vote of confidence that I know they're working hard on a game that I'm very excited about. I hope they grab a few late night pizzas with the money, as they continue to spit polish the game I'll (hopefully) have in my hands by August 9 with no further delays. But if Hello Games delays again, I'll assume it's with real good reason.