This shows that their universe generation is simple. They cannot generate gas giants with moons, that would in fact be solid.
Come on. It's a game, not a model of reality. The target audience is people who want to enjoy playing a game.
You could argue the same thing about having stars - I mean you can't land, so meh - why bother emulating reality and not just have something evenly lit?
Or space between planets, that's a bit meh and needed in a model of reality, how about just a drop-down menu to select where to teleport your ship to next?
I suspect the target audience is people who want to play an infinite universe space game, to whom little details like "An approximation of real life" tends to kind of be important. See: People in this thread, interested in the game, criticising it for the above.
I'm sure there'll be a mode that makes it take decades or centuries to get from one star to another. For those who need a truly authentic experience.
Considering that gas planet usually contains a solid core, it's possible, in theory, to land on a gas planet.
Re:No Man’s Sky
by pavel_lishin on Sunday July 12, 2015 @11:19AM
(#9873721)
> Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Dear Lord! That's over 150 atmospheres of pressure!
> Fry: How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?
> Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Well, it's a space ship, so I'd say anywhere between zero and one.
So there you go, the target audience for this revolutionary game is people who are confused by the existence of gas planets.