The perfect ending for 2020 is Cyberpunk 2077 launch issues. The most anticipated game of this decade demolished by its creators.
I think CDPR delivered on their promise. They gave us a meme. Perhaps the biggest meme of 2020. AAA games can sometimes be very big and ambitious that the release is never stable on all devices. And that is acceptable, if the glitches are minor. But in cyberpunk 2077, not a single player around the world had a normal gaming experience. Some people even discovered new bugs that never happened before. Did you think blurry textures, instant deaths, corrupted saves, objects falling under terrain, and crashes are all the types of bugs that can happen in a video game? think again. Cyberpunk 2077 has surprised the entire world with its 8 years of development, and turned out to be a true masterpiece, in glitching.
A few years ago, Bethesda announced Fallout 76. The disastrous launch is well known by every gamer around the world. Even non Bethesda fans. The internet made sure that the “16 times the detail” and “it just works” memes are never forgotten. Fast forward a couple of years, Ubisoft released Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Again, an abysmal launch, and the good internet veterans made sure the company suffered.
But fanboys are the world’s worst disease, even worse than COVID-19. The good fanboys who have wet dreams about Geralt of Rivia, have put CD Project Red on a very high pedestal. And are now acting as the studio’s salvation army, minimizing the damage and fighting the “poor people with old hardware”.
Why does CDPR deserve more than what they are getting?
CD Project Red started working on Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2012. The game promised us the ultimate cyberpunk dystopia that everyone wants to experience. Something 10 times more immersive than Bladerunner. The studio made sure that their game is mentioned everywhere. Starting partnerships with other studios, youtube channels, and celebrities like Keanu Reeves. Cyberpunk 2077 was being developed for the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Along with the PCs that were available back in 2018. Or at least we thought so.
What is happening now is making me almost certain that this game took only one year of development, and seven years of marketing.
The “people behind Witcher” delayed Cyberpunk 2077 for years. Claiming that they are adding new content, making the game look better, and fixing issues. In addition to the usual delays that happened during the Coronavirus lock down. Needless to say, some studios started developing their games last year, and launched their games in 2020 with no problems whatsoever. So what is CDPR’s excuse?
Every news outlet won’t shut up about Cyberpunk 2077. The game was the highlight of 2018 and 2019 E3. Every single gamer was excited to play, even youtubers and streamers who were not even paid to play the game were extremely excited to give it a try. CDPR delayed the game one last time to ensure that the game is launching properly on both last gen and current gen devices. The studio even uploaded gameplay videos recorded on PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC. Everyone was certain that the 2020 holiday season will be spent in a room with nothing other than Cyberpunk 2077. But we were all deceived.
The launch day was a complete mess. Everyone posting posting about bugs. Twitter swarmed with news on how broken and unfinished the game was. Even Elon Musk started making memes about it.
The Aftermath of Cyberpunk 2077 launch issues
CDPR fanboys flocked to defend “their favorite developer”. I mean, CDPR made Witcher 3 so everything else they ever do is justified! right?
Fanboys started using arguments like “buy a better hardware”, “the game will not work on your trash old PS4”, and the famous “CDPR released the game early because people kept asking for it”.
EARLY??? The game was delayed for about 2 years now. CDPR lied to us about the state of the game. The last delay was to iron out “minor issues” and to “ensure a stable release on all platforms”. The game was originally being developed for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Now it can barely run on either of them. The “old hardware” argument is invalid. Especially since the studio uploaded gameplay recorded on Playstation 4 and Xbox One on their channel. But as it turns out, these videos were lies. The gameplay we saw was not on last gen console, it was just another lie by a big company to make people pre-order.
In addition to all of the above, the game was in development for 8 years. There is no way you can commit 8 years into developing a game and then release it in that state. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla took only 2 years of development, and it turned out a great experience with little to no errors, and running smoothly on all platforms, including last gen consoles.
Some fanboys even dared to say that “CDPR will ensure that everyone is satisfied with their purchase, Witcher 3 had many problems at launch but the studio worked hard to fix it so just wait and see”
Oh really? so that is how CD Project Red works? launch an unfinished game and fix it later after everyone have already paid? oh and fix it “after the holidays”!!
Why didn’t you wait until the game was finished? now the studio itself is finished.
CDPR kept going left and right repeating words like “we are working hard”, “we are sorry”, and “we will help you with your refund request”, until they released the “hotfix 1.04” which honestly fixed nothing at all.
Of course the fanboys kept defending their beloved studio, you can head over to Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter and take a look at all the comments.
Sony pulls Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation store
It is now obvious that the game needs at least a few more months to be fully playable. Gaming stores started issuing refunds for everyone who purchased the game. Sony even pulled the game from the Playstation store to ensure that no one else wastes money on this mess.
SIE strives to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction, therefore we will begin to offer a full refund for all gamers who have purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store. SIE will also be removing Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store until further notice.
Once we have confirmed that you purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via PlayStation Store, we will begin processing your refund. Please note that completion of the refund may vary based on your payment method and financial institution.
Source: PlayStation website
In addition, Xbox also promised to accept all refund requests on Cyberpunk 2077, But did not pull the game from their store.
As for players who purchased a digital copy, CDPR promised to take care of them, But I can’t trust that studio anymore.
Should you still support the studio even after Cyberpunk 2077 launch issues?
That decision is up to you. Personally I can not say what the Studio’s true intentions are. But I can say one thing, They lied.
The studio promised us a finished game that “plays well on older consoles”. The reality is that the game does not run well even on RTX 3090s. With that being said, I do not think I will refund my copy of Cyberpunk 2077 as I truly want to play that game after it is actually finished. However, CD Project Red have lost my trust. And I do not think I will ever buy another game with their name on it.