No Man’s Sky Player Finds ‘Trans Flag’ Gas Giant, Sparks Heated Debate on Reddit
By Harry Negron, February 4, 2025
In the ever-expanding universe of No Man’s Sky, where planetary discoveries are procedurally generated, a seemingly random celestial find has ignited heated debates. A player known as ParcevallGaming recently discovered a gas giant whose colors closely resembled the transgender pride flag—light blue with a baby pink stripe. Excited by the discovery, they shared their findings on the game’s subreddit, but the post quickly became a battleground, leading to mass deletions of comments and eventual thread lockdowns by moderators.
While many players embraced the discovery as a fun and harmless coincidence, others reacted negatively, arguing that such interpretations should not be part of gaming discussions. Some comments dismissed the observation entirely, while others resorted to outright hostility. ParcevallGaming, unfazed by the backlash, posted another thread stating, “I’ll sleep easy knowing that you will be offended by the color of a fictional planet in a video game about 9 percent of the time you visit a gas giant.” However, this post too was met with a flood of negativity and was eventually locked by moderators.
One critic argued that the discovery should not have been framed with LGBTQ representation, to which ParcevallGaming responded, “I made a simple observation of ‘Oh hey, this planet I found looks like a pride flag, neat.’ And then I received 40 hate comments in eight hours, and several people reported my Reddit account.”
The situation underscores an ongoing pattern in gaming spaces, where any mention of LGBTQ representation, female or Black protagonists, or progressive themes is quickly labeled as "woke" and met with hostility. Given that No Man’s Sky generates its universe randomly, the controversy highlights the absurdity of such outrage—especially when players have no control over what planets appear in the game.
Despite the negativity, a significant number of users stood by ParcevallGaming, countering the hostile comments and voicing their support. The incident serves as yet another reminder of the persistent divisions in gaming communities over issues of inclusivity, even when the representation in question is purely accidental.
