Shooter dev "gaslights" players about fake Space Whales for seven years, then sneaks them into the game

Every few moments in the current build of arcade space shooter Nova Drift there's a chance the game will spawn a Cargo Train. Whenever the game decides to spawn a Cargo Train, there's a 1/7777 chance it will spawn a Space Whale instead. "Nonsense," you bellow. "Space Whales are a myth. Designer Jeffrey Nielson has been telling us they're not real ever since the original Kickstarter in 2017." Ah, you poor, unsuspecting mooncalf. You chirpy little starfish. Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide treacherously hidden inside downloadable software packages. Nielson has been telling you porkies. He did, in fact, surreptitiously add a Space Whale to the game shortly before Nova Drift's 1.0 release back in August 2024, after years of conspiracy theories. This, friends, is the good kind of lie, the kind of lie that makes combing through a million changelogs for potential headlines worthwhile. Read more

Jun 3, 2025 - 15:00

Shooter dev "gaslights" players about fake Space Whales for seven years, then sneaks them into the game

Every few moments in the current build of arcade space shooter Nova Drift there's a chance the game will spawn a Cargo Train. Whenever the game decides to spawn a Cargo Train, there's a 1/7777 chance it will spawn a Space Whale instead. "Nonsense," you bellow. "Space Whales are a myth. Designer Jeffrey Nielson has been telling us they're not real ever since the original Kickstarter in 2017." Ah, you poor, unsuspecting mooncalf. You chirpy little starfish. Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide treacherously hidden inside downloadable software packages. Nielson has been telling you porkies.

He did, in fact, surreptitiously add a Space Whale to the game shortly before Nova Drift's 1.0 release back in August 2024, after years of conspiracy theories. This, friends, is the good kind of lie, the kind of lie that makes combing through a million changelogs for potential headlines worthwhile.