CD Projekt Red thinks that the massive backlashCyberpunk 2077received at launch ultimately helped make it a better game in the long run. Based on the classicCyberpunktabletop RPG franchise and featuring a sizable list of big-name talent (including Kenau Reeves as rebellious rockstar Johnny Silverhand),Cyberpunk 2077built a massive amount of hype during its long development cycle and the lead-up to its 2020 release, helped in no small part by the goodwill developer CD Projekt Red had built up with the successfulWitcherseries.
This made the eventualcontroversy surroundingCyberpunk 2077’s launchall the more noteworthy. The game was plagued with numerous game-breaking bugs and glitches, and several previously announced features were missing whenCyberpunk 2077first hit consoles, with the backlash being so severe that outlets like the Xbox online store briefly offered refunds for disappointed players. It wouldn’t be until at least a few years afterCyberpunk 2077’s launch that the game was able to shake off this bad reputation, thanks to several welcome update patches and a full DLC story campaign.
While looking back at theinitial launch ofCyberpunk 2077, CD Project Red senior VP of technology Charles Tremblay says that the backlash might have helped save the game. In an interview withThe Mirror, Tremblay said that while the negativity CDPR received whenCyberpunk 2077first came out remains a painful memory, it drove the developers to put more energy into fixing the game’s many issues and led to an end result much better than what would have come without that initial feedback. “At the end side, if you think about it, if the success of the game would have been what we originally expected, would it be the same game that we’re playing today? I don’t think so.”
CDPR Credits Initial Player Reactions For Cyberpunk 2077’s Improvements
As mentioned before, it took many years and severalbig update patches to bringCyberpunk 2077more in line with what CDPR had promised players at launch by fixing the worst of the game’s technical issues and implementing some of the features that were cut from its initial launch. 2023 saw the release ofPhantom Liberty,Cyberpunk 2077’s first and only story-based DLC expansion that saw V journey into the dark underbelly of Dogtown on a mission to rescue the President of the New United States.
At the end side, if you think about it, if the success of [Cyberpunk 2077] would have been what we originally expected, would it be the same game that we’re playing today? I don’t think so.
Now CDPR has shifted its focustowardCyberpunk 2077’s eventual sequel, which might not have been possible without the major effort the developer made to salvage the original game following its disastrous launch. Not much is known about the tentatively-named “Project Orion,” save that it might take place in a new city described as “Chicago gone wrong.” CDPR is also working with Netflix on a follow-up toCyberpunk: Edgerunners, the hit 2022 anime that was arguably just as instrumental in changing the public’s perception ofCyberpunk 2077as its post-launch content.
