It’s been nearly three months, now, that Hello Games released their highly anticipated space adventure, No Man’s Sky. For years leading up to the launch date, the small team behind the, had much of the gaming community in anticipation for what sounded, in theory, like it was going to be a revolutionary game. However, in the weeks and months that have followed its release, its lackluster reviews, monotonous and repetitive gameplay, along with several technical issues, have plagued the game’s reputation and has prevented it from receiving mass acclaim.

So how did the studio and the game developers respond to such backlash? Well, Sean Murray, the game’s lead designer, has not publicly released any statements since the game’s release. That was until a strange Twitter post appeared this morning on Hello Games’ Twitter account. According to Polygon, the post simply stated that “No Man’s Sky was a mistake.”

The tweet appeared this morning on the @HelloGames account, but it was later deleted and Hello Games quickly made their account private. Polygon quickly reached out for comment from Murray via email, and they received a reply from him where he clarifies that the tweet was from him but that it was taken down by someone from the team. An even more puzzling email was sent to a pair of staffer from Polygon where someone claiming to be Sean, elaborates on why the studio made a mistake with the game.

Below is the email:

No Man’s Sky was a mistake.
I have contacted you because the silence from Hello Games has been unwarranted and unprofessional. The community has asked me to speak up, and I have a confession to make. The game was simply unfinished upon arrival.

Our hand was forced by not only Sony, but the community as well. The constant harassment and absolute gross misconduct on the community’s part has made it hard to fulfill our artistic vision, while the pressure from Sony to release the game as soon as possible forced us to cut key features. I want to apologize for what we did not deliver on, as the game does not meet up to what our artistic vision was.

However, we do wish that the community was more understanding of our situation. Many people have asked for refunds despite our promise to continually improve and update No Man’s Sky. We are just a small studio that has poured our blood, sweat, and tears into this project. The complete lack of respect when it comes to the work we have done absolutely saddens not only myself, but the team as well. We want to improve the game to the point we dreamed of it being and beyond.

I hope everyone affected understands,
Sean Murray

Sean Murray’s last tweet came back in August 18th, just a few days after No Man’s Sky had launched. However, five hours after the original “mistake” tweet was released, Sean Murray issued a statement via Twitter saying that the server was hacked.

Server hacked. We're binging Mr Robot Episodes as quickly as we can looking for answers. Ep05 is a cracker

— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) October 28, 2016

Another hour later, Hello Games issued another statement saying that they were “100%” hack free, noting that the tweets and emails were completely fake.

However, Forbes later reported that they spoke to a representative who stated that the “hack” came from an employee who had gone rogue and was “disgruntled,” saying they’re “currently trying to solve the issue internally.”

No Man’s Sky continues to suffer from poor critical reviews; on Steam they hold overwhelmingly negative user response.