The x-ray of the failure of the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077

CD Projekt Red announced this title in 2012 and after 8 years it was shaping up to be Game of the Year.

3.4 is the average rating that PlayStation 4 players have given the game.

The release of Cyberpunk 2077, developed by the Polish studio CD Projekt Red - known for the highly-rated video game series The Witcher - was expected by the entire video game industry, the press, and fans. However, within days of its release, on December 10, 2020, gamers began encountering bugs after bugs and development issues that worried the industry.

Great expectations had been created, in large part, by the recognition that the studio achieved with The Witcher 3, winner of the game of the year distinction in 2015, and that led CD Projekt to go from being a moderately recognized company to becoming one of the great video game developers in the world.

Among the actions that boosted CD's good reputation were its strong pro-consumer policies, in which all players who bought a copy of The Witcher 3 received the full game, with no extra paid content or perks that were obtained when paying.

This type of strategy led the study to be on the lips of millions of people since its new great project, Cyberpunk 2077, which promised new functions and features worthy of the new generation of video games, out of the most anticipated games.

Initially, the title was thought of by the old generation of consoles –Xbox One, PlayStation 4– and also PC. Its design and development made it a possible nominee for Game of the Year and, after so much expectation, even Game of the Decade.

The budget for 'Cyberpunk 2077' is estimated at 270 million euros.

With an open world, a promise of a fully alive and constantly moving city, a well-grounded storyline filled with thrilling side stories, Cyberpunk 2077 was unveiled, along with the promise of hours and hours of content to play.

However, 2020 was a difficult year for CD Projekt Red, which delayed the launch of the game since the beginning of last year, claiming that they needed more time to optimize details of experience in the game and that there had been delays due to covid-19.

Each studio announcement was accompanied by attacks from fans waiting for the game that eventually turned into threats to the developers; they told them that they would not be given more time to finish the highly anticipated Cyberpunk.

December 10, 2020, would be the day that everyone could acquire Cyberpunk, and days before the specialized press had the opportunity to test it and it was "universally acclaimed" by critics, according to the site metacritic.com.

Cyberpunk "brings open-world gaming to a new generation" for The Digital Fix, while Gameblog.fr elevates it to the category of "masterpiece".

Two days after the launch, from CD Projekt they took to social networks to offer their apologies.

The version analyzed by the press was the computer version; however, when millions of users tested the game on consoles, critics were unanimous about an impressive number of bugs it contained. And it all became more acute when it was revealed that the study did not allow analysis on consoles before launch.

When millions of players tried the title on the standard versions of the old generation consoles - PS4 and Xbox One -, they found a video game that was almost unplayable, full of errors and glitches, along with a graphic quality that was nowhere near what was presented in trailers.

Two days after the launch, CD Projekt took to social networks to offer their apologies and tell those who had bought the game on digital platforms that they could request a refund of money; however, in some countries, the game is marketed by third parties who have refused to return the money, and users find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

This is how all the trust and closeness that CD Projekt Red had achieved began to be lost, and not only because of graphics or performance problems, but because several promises were broken that led the study to considerable drops in sales.

Social networks were filled with videos that collected hundreds of 'bugs' and problems in the game; The criticisms on the Metacritic portal made by users on PlayStation 4 were 3.4 points out of 10 and 4.8 points on Xbox One.

With a strong blow to the reputation of the developer, the next step was to fix what was damaged. At the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, the new patches arrived that fixed different errors and improved both the textures and the behaviors of the NPCs - characters controlled by artificial intelligence.

Marcin Iwinski, the co-founder of CD Projekt Red, said in a video: “The first months of 2021 we will dedicate to fixing all the problems that we have within the game. Please, don't blame any of our development team. We were the members of the board of directors who made the decision to launch. We ask for excuses ”.

2021 kicks off with a great first patch that improved the gaming experience but didn't fix your bad first impression.