The hype train on that thing was colossal and honestly, it was a little delusionial to think that a team of 15 devs could create an infinite universe that would provide endless varied content that didn't get repetitive and best in genre gameplay. It's already an incredible feat that such a small team managed the whole procedurally generated universe thingy.
Hopefully, now that the game is out and money starts pouring in, they will be able to continue working on expanding upon the current foundation, making the gameplay more meaningful for long time players... That said, I think not making this game multiplayer-oriented was a huge mistake... I mean, games like minecraft thrive due to player created worlds, and to me procedurally generated universes needs to give multiple players the abilitry to durably affect and "build" man made structures in them... How far would have Minecraft gotten without the ability to alter and modify the gameworld , I wonder ?
The lack of multiplayer means it will always remain a mostly solitary "explore empty wortlds" type of game... Whereas I'm sure the game would have actually been more rewarding with some multiplayer focus and the ability to create player owned cities and such on said planets... It's one thing to discover a random planet, but shaping it into a huge outpost where you and your friends hang out is where the true fun would have been.
Hopefully the game can evolve as time passes.