A report on Telegraaf.nl yesterday said that a Dutch company by the name of Genicap actually owns the formula that Hello Games is using to create the 18 quintillion planets in No Man's Sky.
A post on Neogaf offered a translation of the statement that Jeroen Sparrow of Genicap made about the game:
"We haven't provided a license to Hello Games," Jeroen Sparrow of Genicap said. "We don't want to stop the launch, but if the formula is used we'll need to have a talk."
According to Sparrow, Genicap are making their own game with this formula and he also said efforts had been made to contact Hello Games to no avail.
Although Genicap hasn't seen the source, which may weaken its claim a little, it's no secret Hello Games have had trouble with the question of procedurally generating planets. Its creator Sean Murray for instance said in 2015 that he struggled with the issue.
That was until he discovered Belgian plant geneticist Johan Gielis' "Superformula" from 2003 that helped the solve the problem.
Gielis, however, is also the Chief Research Officer at Genicap and currently owns the patent for the formula, so maybe there is a legitimate complaint after all. Whether that means Murray, and Hello Games, used it inappropriately or not is another question entirely.