Last week was a tough one for the developers of open-space exploration game, No Man's Sky.

A few days ago, Mobile & Apps reported that there are rumors of a possible delay for No Man's Sky. The speculations started when a Kotaku source, who is working for Gamestop, reported promotional materials for No Man's Sky being plastered with a "coming soon" sticker. The source says that they were advised to do so as the date on the materials, which is the original June 21 release, is incorrect.

Hello Games founder Sean Murray took to the Playstation blog to confirm that the game is indeed delayed, and is now slated for an August 2016 release. "However, as we approached our final deadlines, we realized that some key moments needed extra polish to bring them up to our standards," Murray explained. "I have had to make the tough choice to delay the game for a few weeks to allow us to deliver something special."

"We understand that this news is disappointing," he went on to say. "Making this game is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but we are so close now, and we're prepared to make the tough choices to get it right.

Despite the Hello Games's director's apology, the fans who are waiting for the game since it was introduced at E3 2014 apparently did not take the news well. Kotaku's own correspondent, Jason Schreier, who revealed the rumored delay, has also been threatened on Twitter, even going as far as blaming him for the delay.

The Hello Games team also received similar threats, as Murray confirmed on a Twitter post, albeit handling this in a light-hearted way.

No Man's Sky will launch in North America on August 9, in Europe August 10, and in the UK August 12.