The Tragedy and Comeback of Cyberpunk 2077

[00:23] Approximately three years ahead of The  Witcher 3: Wild Hunt s May 2015 release,   Polish game developer CD Projekt RED announced  plans to develop a Triple-A project based on   Mike Pondsmith s Cyberpunk pen-and-paper RPG.  Studio Co-Founder Marcin Iwi?ski promised the  

[00:40] then-unnamed game would boast all the hallmarks of  The Witcher series, its design molded with mature   and demanding players in mind. The development  team and Pondsmith expressed their confidence   in the title s ability to set a new standard  for futuristic role-playing games, with high  

[00:56] production values serving as the most significant  goal. No one could have anticipated how short the   resulting product would fall from expectations. After a lengthy period of silence,   the marketing blitz for Cyberpunk 2077 got off to  an incredible start in June 2018, courtesy of an  

[01:14] E3 presentation that would fuel years of hype  and millions of pre-order purchases. Not even   multiple delays and an eventually admitted lack of  transparency could curtail interest, not when the   neon-drenched streets of Night City and a Keanu  Reeves-starring narrative seemed so enticing.  

[01:31] Upon launch, however, the glitz and glamor  faded, obscured by missing textures,   game-breaking performance issues, and a litany  of other glitches that ruined the experience for   players on consoles and high-end PCs. Those who  spent eight years awaiting Cyberpunk 2077 were  

[01:48] gifted a skeleton of CD Projekt RED s vision,  one so marred by mismanagement that the company   s hard-fought reputation seemingly plummeted  overnight. Should the team find a way to right   its myriad wrongs, many will still remember this  once ambitious endeavor for having one of the most  

[02:04] disastrous launches in video game history. This is the tragedy of Cyberpunk 2077.  

[02:31] Having found solace in Mike Pondsmith s  pen-and-paper RPG during the Iron Curtain era   that divided Europe post-World War II, CD Projekt  RED developers contacted the Cyberpunk creator in   hopes of reimagining his opus in digital form.  Pondsmith eventually agreed, telling Glixel the  

[02:48] crew s technical capabilities and knowledge of  Cyberpunk lore impressed him above all else. Thus,   the seed that would blossom into Cyberpunk 2077  was planted in a hopeful exchange between a  

[03:00] tabletop game designer and talented fans who knew  a thing or two about game design themselves.   After teasing the adaptation at  its Summer Conference in May 2012,   CD Projekt formally announced the Cyberpunk  2077 title that following October. January  

[03:17] 2013 marked its real coming-out party,  with a teaser trailer offering a first   look at the studio s vision. The trailer  depicted a specialized task force, MAX-TAC,   closing in on a woman whose cybernetic implants  had become severely uncontrollable. It painted a  

[03:34] grim picture of the in-game world futuristic yet  dystopian, technologically advanced yet careening   out of control. As far as initial impressions were  concerned, the Witcher developer had captured the  

[03:46] audience s attention. By this point, though,  the sci-fi adventure existed in concept only.   Pre-production in its earliest phase began in  2013, led by a team comprised of about 50 people,  

[03:58] the vast majority of them Witcher veterans. Once  The Witcher 3 s Blood and Wine DLC shipped in the   summer of 2016, the crew entered pre-production on  Cyberpunk 2077 full-speed ahead. A message hidden  

[04:11] within the E3 2018 trailer noted the long wait for  new details constituted a by-product of a desire   to speak when there was something meaningful and  substantial to showcase. And the E3 2018 teaser,  

[04:24] as well as the developer interviews  accompanying it, provided plenty of   substance while merely setting the tone of  Night City, a destitute futuristic setting   lorded over by mega-corporations and gangs. CD Projekt RED took this time to tout Cyberpunk  

[04:39] 2077 as a single-player experience replete with  customization options. This also marked the   point at which the public learned about the  title s first-person perspective, news that   hopeful players received with trepidation.  According to Lead Designer Kyle Rowley,  

[04:53] first-person represented the best way to fully  immerse users in Night City s atmosphere.   Other external elements such as multiplayer and  post-launch DLC additionally received mentions   early in the marketing cycle. Level Designer  Max Pears told ShackNews that Cyberpunk 2077  

[05:10] s online component was in the R&D phase, with  developers working to ensure the mode adhered   to the core tenets of the studio. In terms  of post-release support, CD Projekt couldn t   offer concrete details but promised a DLC  rollout akin to that of The Witcher 3.  

[05:26] Amid all this talk, launch-related specifics were  limited to the confirmation of PC, PlayStation 4,   and Xbox One support. But a set due date  remained under wraps since delivering the  

[05:38] RPG when it s ready had become somewhat of  a mantra. Nevertheless, uncertainty about   a release time didn t slow anticipation amongst  eager onlookers. The title won a treasure trove   of E3 2018 awards from outlets including Game  Informer, IGN, and PC Gamer, for example.  

[05:55] Cyberpunk 2077 s appearance during the Xbox  conference at E3 2019 amplified the excitement   tenfold, thanks in part to actor Keanu Reeves  taking the stage to tease his casting in the  

[06:07] role of Johnny Silverhand and share the April  16th, 2020 due date. New information about the   single-player campaign surfaced throughout the  subsequent months. Yet, news of the multiplayer   suite s delay to a nebulous period post launch  set the tenor for the final marketing push.  

[06:29] In a January 2020 statement typed on a  now-notorious bright yellow background, CD Projekt   Co-Founder Marcin Iwi?ski and Head of Studio Adam  Badowski revealed Cyberpunk 2077 s postponement  

[06:41] from April 16th to September 17th. While the  game existed in a complete and playable state,   the complexity of its various systems demanded  extra time in the oven, particularly for polish,  

[06:53] playtesting, and bug fixes. A similar message  hit the web in June, confirming another delay to   November 19th. Iwi?ski and Badowski acknowledged  the risk of losing public trust; however,  

[07:05] they insisted the extended development cycle  would benefit the final product since there were   still glitches and balancing issues to tackle. Unfortunately, the speed with which higher-ups   felt the need to deliver these changes came at  the cost of a promise to no longer rely on crunch  

[07:21] practices. A year prior, Iwi?ski publicly stated  the studio had stamped mandatory overtime out of   its operations. Something changed between  then and the months leading up to launch.   Bloomberg obtained a September 2020  email from Adam Badowski to employees,  

[07:37] which detailed a plan of going into overdrive  in the final stretch. Because this news directly   contradicted previous statements, Badowski  willingly accepted the ensuing backlash. The   studio head contended that all other options for  completing the project on time were exhausted,  

[07:53] hence the newly implemented crunch period  involving six-day work weeks. Though a lack   of clarity regarding the number of additionally  mandated hours permeated the conversation,   Badowski s response to the Bloomberg report  assured every staff member would receive  

[08:06] compensation, on top of the crew splitting  10 percent of the company s annual profits.   Crunch-related concerns aside, all seemed well  in October when Cyberpunk 2077 went "gold,  

[08:18] meaning it was content complete and ready  for disc manufacturing. The studio announced   a third delay approximately three weeks  later, though, an incredibly rare move   for a project deemed gold. Upon sharing the new  December 10th launch date, Iwi?ski and Badowski  

[08:34] divulged that the biggest challenge stemmed  from an attempt to simultaneously ship nine   different versions including Google Stadia, PC,  last-gen, and next-gen consoles. And because of   the worldwide pandemic, such a herculean  undertaking had to be managed remotely.  

[08:50] The discourse surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 shifted  dramatically at release, vacillating from an   almost overwhelming level of anticipation to  underwhelming reception in a matter of days. The   review embargo lifted on December 7th, allowing  critics to regale consumers with tales of their  

[09:06] Night City exploits. Most reviewers seemed easily  won over barring the GameSpot writer who awarded   the RPG a 7 out of 10 and fell victim to online  harassment from those who d yet to venture into   the open world. But the experience that enjoyed  predominantly high marks was played on PC per  

[09:23] CD Projekt, which also prohibited outlets and  influencers who received review copies from   sharing gameplay footage not captured by the  developer. No one could ve predicted the poor   state of the base PS4 and Xbox One versions  that had long eluded the public eye.  

[09:38] At launch, console players, specifically last-gen  hardware users, encountered a litany of bugs,   several of which made the futuristic RPG  unplayable. Textures on characters and  

[09:50] environmental objects often failed to load,  thereby creating muddied visuals. Performance   proved sluggish at best. The player-character  randomly entered T-pose states while driving.   Crashing issues halted progression. A host of  other audio, graphical, and balancing troubles  

[10:06] pervaded the title, as well. Even users  who owned sophisticated PCs couldn t escape   Cyberpunk 2077 s technical shortcomings. Not long after news of the third delay hit   the web, CD Projekt RED admitted that PS4 and Xbox  One constituted the primary reasons for the push.  

[10:24] Joint CEO Adam Kici?ski echoed this sentiment  in an emergency board meeting days after launch,   revealing how the Management Board ignored  signals suggesting the last-gen iteration   needed a longer refinement period. The executive  acknowledged this as the wrong approach, even  

[10:40] addressing the fact that most of Cyberpunk 2077  s marketing campaign showcased the PC version.   Suffice it to say, players were unhappy, evidenced  by the thousands of refund requests thrown at CD  

[10:52] Projekt and its retail partners. While the studio  invited those dissatisfied with their purchase   to request reimbursements, mixed messaging about  differing refund policies rocked Sony, Microsoft,   and retailers. Microsoft and stores such as  Best Buy and GameStop temporarily extended  

[11:08] their respective policies. So, too, did Sony,  a company whose digital storefront bears a   notoriously strict set of refund guidelines. With  Sony forced to exhibit leniency for the sake of   Cyberpunk 2077, the platform-holder played an  unprecedented hand to deal with the situation  

[11:24] on its own terms delisting Cyberpunk on the  PlayStation Store within a week of launch.   Arguably the biggest entertainment release of  2020 would spend the next six months absent   from a leading digital marketplace. Sony and customers the world over weren  

[11:44] t the only ones frustrated by Cyberpunk 2077 s  launch debacle; CD Projekt RED investors took   umbrage with the state of things, too.  Consequently, investors filed multiple   about the readiness of Cyberpunk on base PS4 and  Xbox One consoles. The New York-based Rosen Law  

[12:03] Firm filed the first class-action suit in December  2020; a U.S. District Court in California brought   forward similar complaints weeks later. In May  2021, a court consolidated these two lawsuits  

[12:16] along with two others, which CD Projekt vowed to  vigorously defend itself against. By year s end,   however, the studio settled out of court for  $1.85 million, citing the cost of further  

[12:28] legal proceedings and counsel from both sides of  the aisle as the reason for such a decision.   Legal woes constituted but one of the many  issues that plagued CD Projekt in the year   following Cyberpunk 2077 s troubled arrival.  The title recouped development and marketing  

[12:44] costs ahead of launch on the back of eight  million pre-order sales, effectively covering   a budget worth an estimated $328 million. Its  immediate sales figures post-release weren t   anything to scoff at either, considering the 13.7  million copies sold in 2020 alone. But Cyberpunk  

[13:01] s long-term success grew skewed over time. Sales numbers on consoles suffered the biggest   hit, apparent in the NPD data shared for the  month of January 2021. Despite debuting at  

[13:13] number two in the United States, the game s  second month saw it barely crack the Top-20   sales chart. While NPD stats only considered  physical versions, CD Projekt later reported   a 64 percent year-over-year profit deficit for  the first quarter of 2021. Company officials  

[13:29] referenced the PS4 delisting as a ramification  of the botched premiere that would continue to   impact financial results. Notably, it didn t  help that the studio facilitated approximately   30,000 refund requests, minus the reimbursements  governed by Microsoft, Sony, and retailers.  

[13:45] Of course, the game s persistently broken state  further compounded the Cyberpunk maker s net   losses. The firm tried rectifying the situation  early on, attempting to explain what went wrong   before course correcting with patches big and  small. An apology video from Marcin Iwi?ski in  

[14:00] January 2021 represented a mea culpa, with the  executive confessing to how badly CD Projekt   underestimated the task of developing  the experience on last-gen hardware.   Apparently, the undertaking hardly  seemed difficult in the beginning;  

[14:15] as launch day drew near, Iwi?ski claimed  significant improvements to the console   iterations became a regular occurrence. And  since playtesting failed to yield the glaring   issues that users encountered upon release,  the team believed a Day Zero update would  

[14:29] iron out lingering errors. Allegedly, CD Projekt  brass got it wrong on more than one account.   A Bloomberg report based on accounts from  20 current and former Cyberpunk developers  

[14:41] made the rounds shortly after Iwi?ski  s apology video. According to staffers,   the ambitious project suffered beneath the weight  of mismanagement throughout its development,   which began in 2016, then underwent an overhaul  when Adam Badowski assumed the role of Game  

[14:54] Director in 2018. Badowski reportedly spearheaded  the move from third to first-person gameplay.   One especially debilitating problem manifested  due to the studio building the engine technology  

[15:06] and game simultaneously, a mistake developers  likened to laying tracks ahead of a moving   train. Mismanagement also reared its head  whenever engineers voiced uncertainty about   constructing Cyberpunk s complex systems on  the aging PS4 and Xbox One hardware. Those  

[15:22] who spoke with Bloomberg alleged higher-ups  deliberately dismissed these concerns.   Time constraints and design troubles  weighed heavily on production, too. As such,   several features wound up on the chopping block,  including those once shown in gameplay demos like  

[15:36] wall-running and flying cars. And quite a few cuts  and additions were decided upon at the tail end of   development for instance, Bloomberg sources said  the broken police system came online at the last   minute. Meanwhile, YouTuber Tyler McVicker  s access to an unpatched version of the game  

[15:51] unveiled numerous changes that were implemented  in the 11th hour, namely with respect to the map,   UI, perks, vendors, and weapon customization. Understandably, the RPG s poor state out of the  

[16:04] box forced the company to postpone its plans for  paid expansions, free DLC, and next-gen updates   to instead direct all efforts towards cleaning up  the core game. An initial round of patches went  

[16:16] live during Cyberpunk s launch month, each one  aimed at stabilizing the bug-ridden adventure.   A few other variably sized updates touched down  in subsequent weeks but the first consequential   changes arrived with the 1.2 patch deployed  in March 2021, though it previously bore a  

[16:32] February due date that CD Projekt delayed  because of a targeted ransomware attack.   Weighing 33 gigabytes on PC and over 40 gigabytes  on console, Patch 1.2 optimized gameplay, quests,  

[16:44] audio, cinematics, performance, and myriad  other areas beset by technical abnormalities.   In many respects, the rollout of the patch s  500-plus changes either engendered debilitating  

[16:56] effects or added little in the way of  gameplay improvements. Even with 1.2   installed, players continued stumbling across  performance hiccups, physics-based errors,   and oddities with the police system. As the production team focused on addressing  

[17:10] persistent issues, the fabric of Cyberpunk 2077 s  leadership team began changing behind the scenes.   Having joined the company as Creative  Director in January 2020, Dragon Age:  

[17:22] Inquisition alum Gabriel Amatangelo was  appointed Cyberpunk Game Director in May   2021. The new role positioned Amantangelo as  the overseer of future updates and expansions,   and ex-Game Director Adam Badowski accepted  other leadership duties amid CD Projekt s  

[17:37] transition to a structure allowing for parallel  production on multiple Triple-A titles. Yet,   the road to fixing its biggest Triple-A  endeavor had only just begun.  

[17:49] Several lingering glitches post-Patch 1.2 were  tackled in 1.21. This set of changes and those   that followed heralded the RPG s long-awaited  return to the PlayStation marketplace.  

[18:01] Sony reinstated Cyberpunk on PSN in June, citing  the PlayStation community s best interests as the   motivating factor for the initial removal. Its  return came with a caveat, though; notably, the  

[18:13] platform-holder warned that base PS4 owners would  still experience performance issues and, thus,   advised customers to play on PS4 Pro or PS5. CD Projekt possessed a more positive outlook,  

[18:26] insisting in a late June interview with  Polish news channel TVN24 that Cyberpunk   2077 had achieved "a satisfactory level  in terms of stability. But efforts towards   further optimizing the game wouldn t cease  for a long time to come and for good reason.  

[18:43] The sci-fi adventure topped the PS4 digital  sales charts in the U.S. and Europe upon its   reinstatement. Even more good tidings bubbled  to the surface when Patch 1.3 launched,   bringing with it numerous bug fixes  and free content add-ons. Of course,  

[18:57] players were most eager to access larger pieces of  free DLC and the much-delayed next-gen updates.   All told, Cyberpunk 2077 finished its first  year on the market better than it started.  

[19:09] Steam data from Valve grouped the title  among the best-selling and most-played   games on Steam in 2021. However, the advent of  Patch 1.5 in February 2022 marked the biggest  

[19:21] game-changer for CD Projekt s beleaguered  adventure. Dubbed the Next-Generation Update,   1.5 presented PS5 and Xbox Series users with an  enhanced version of the Night City-set experience,   complete with ray-tracing, new graphics  modes, and adaptive triggers on PS5.  

[19:38] This patch also unleashed a considerable  amount of free content for all platforms,   ranging from apartments to rent and  character creation modifications to   additional missions and cyberware upgrades.  Improvements to romances, driving controls,  

[19:52] and combat AI counted among the newly introduced  changes, too. Though 1.5 didn t magically erase   every one of Cyberpunk s blemishes, it  seemingly better reflected development   crew s original vision. Plus, its rollout  gave way to the studio speaking candidly  

[20:07] about paid content, which will come in  the form of a DLC expansion in 2023.   CD Projekt Red unveiled the DLC, Phantom  Liberty, in September 2022. A spy-thriller  

[20:19] set in a previously unexplored district of  Night City, Phantom Liberty will involve   player character V pledging their allegiance  to the New United States of America. But the   content s exclusive release across Stadia, PC,  PS5, and Xbox Series means eighth-generation  

[20:34] console support has officially come to an end,  a notion further accentuated by the confirmation   that September 2022 s Edgerunners Update  serves as the last PS4 and Xbox One patch.  

[20:46] As the only planned expansion for Cyberpunk 2077,  it stands to reason Phantom Liberty will usher in   the game s final curtain call. And CD Projekt  s sidelining of the REDengine that powered  

[20:58] Cyberpunk, along with abandoning the technology s  multiplayer R&D efforts, indicates online features   for the game may never see the light of day. Blame  

[21:17] for what went awry won t soon cease being passed  around. In June 2022, a whistleblower from   Romanian Quality Assurance company Quantic Lab  told Upper Echelon Games that Cyberpunk 2077 hit  

[21:30] a rough patch in late 2019. Allegedly, CD Projekt  hired Quantic Lab for its QA-related expertise,   believing veteran testers would help pinpoint  the game s problem areas. The insider said junior  

[21:43] testers were assigned instead, unbeknownst  to the Cyberpunk crew. Strict quotas from   Quantic Lab executives reportedly exacerbated the  issue, culminating in negligible errors too often   taking priority and disrupting productivity. In speaking with VGC, the QA company s CEO,  

[22:00] Stefan Scicarescu, didn t explicitly deny  allegations that CD Projekt was misled but   said reports on the matter featured inaccuracies  and exhibited a misunderstanding about the QA   process. The development crew refused to publicly  address the rumor when approached by VGC.  

[22:16] Given the number of unsubstantiated reports and  subsequent denials that surround Cyberpunk 2077,   specifics regarding its failures may stay buried  for a long time to come. But one thing seems  

[22:28] abundantly clear the Polish developer took a  mighty blow to its once sterling reputation.   CD Projekt s stocks fell multiple times  post-Cyberpunk 2077. Its market cap,  

[22:40] which previously made it the most valuable  games company in Europe, hit a low in 2022   that may have turned Dying Light creator  Techland into Poland s biggest gaming firm.   vanished almost overnight. Many would argue  Cyberpunk 2077 is slowly rounding the curve,  

[22:54] though, trending towards a path that places the  launch controversy in the rearview mirror. Such   forward momentum comes courtesy of the so-called  Netflix boost, wherein the release of a new show   or movie on the streaming platform significantly  improves the sales of adapted media. CD Projekt  

[23:11] experienced the phenomenon with The Witcher  3 following the premiere of Netflix s The   Witcher Season 1 in 2019. The streaming giant s  deployment of the acclaimed Cyberpunk: Edgerunners   anime has similarly benefitted Cyberpunk 2077. Within approximately 10 days of the anime s debut,  

[23:28] Cyberpunk 2077 surpassed The Witcher 3 s all-time  concurrent players peak on Steam. The futuristic   RPG also enjoyed consecutive players growth  for seven days straight, once more securing  

[23:42] the number one spot on Steam s best-sellers  chart. This No Man s Sky-like redemption arc   demonstrates that millions of new and returning  users have given Cyberpunk 2077 a second chance,  

[23:54] one the studio would do well not to squander  when unleashing Phantom Liberty in 2023.   As things currently stand, then, only  time will tell if CD Projekt RED can   ever truly recover from one of the most  surprising blunders in industry history.