Cyberpunk 2077 issues are making it a disaster launch, to say the least. It was the most anticipated game of all time that was surrounded by immense hype. After its release, the game was a total mess and the hype backfired on it. The hype that was supposed to work in the favor of Cyberpunk 2077 worked against it. People were expecting a game that would deliver something exceptional. After the release, the game was a total mess. Before patches, the game was unplayable on base PS4 and Xbox One. Even after patches the game is still not performing well on PS4 and Xbox One. To top it all, the entire game is buggy on every system, including PC. So some of the problems with games are not hardware driven.
The explanation that CD Projekt Red is giving about the mess is also controversial. Their comments regarding the weaker hardware of the base 8th gen console do not make sense. The time it took to develop the game is also a big part of the problem. CD Projekt Red created as much hyped as possible but failed to show it through the game. The developers are now facing a lawsuit, the game has been removed from PlayStation Store, Fans are not happy with the game, the stock price of the company is down and the reputation of the company is in complete disarray. There is no doubt that Cyberpunk 2077 issues are making it a disappointment at launch but what went wrong with Cyberpunk 2077? Let’s discuss this in detail.
Ignoring the Bugs in Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 is a good game at its core but the presentation of it is extremely bad. On PS4 and Xbox One, the games perform worse than any other game on these systems. Bugs are also a major problem plaguing the game. However, without bugs, the game is one of the best when it comes to role-playing games. There are lots of things that Cyberpunk 2077 does better than any other game.
For starters, the world of Cyberpunk has a sense of realism that is unique to it. Night City is lively and it offers a different kind of feeling. It is the first open-world game in which I have seen a large number of children. Usually, open-world games don’t have children due to violence but if there are children in a game then they are rare. In Night City, you see groups of kids going to school. The lighting in the city is also good. In short, the open world of the game is much better.
Character design and NPCs’ behavior during dialogue is extremely satisfying. In RPG games NPCs will talk to you without showing emotion. Cyberpunk 2077 issues make it a different case. Though there are some buzzer moments NPCs still have good acting. Sadly every part of the game is plagued by bugs. That includes both good and bad aspects of the game. Under all the bugs and unpolished mechanics, there is a good game.
What Went Wrong with Cyberpunk 2077?
The hype is a major factor for Cyberpunk 2077 issues. The hype was supposed to help the game but instead, it backfired and turned the game into a mess. People expect great things from a hyped-up product and don’t want to be disappointed. Cyberpunk 2077’s case is no different due to the immense amount of hype surrounding the game. The long development time is also an issue that makes it feel like a hoax. The game was announced in May 2012. We saw the first trailer in January 2013. So the Cyberpunk 2077 was in development for 8 years. We don’t know how much of this time was spent on the actual development given the status of the game.
Some developers are better than others and all these developers have one thing in common. They release games a year or two after its announcement. Rockstar, Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, Valve, etc. These studios don’t announce games until they know that they can release a good game in time. We already witnessed the impact of late releases this year with The Last of Us Part 2. Such a large development time needs excessive marketing to keep the flame of hype from vanishing. Sustaining hype for a long time requires resources. The hype will also work as a way to show investors a product that can generate income.
The long development time of Cyberpunk 2077 nullifies all their arguments regarding the poor performance of the game. There is just no real explanation for the way the game is performing on PS4 and Xbox One. Cyberpunk 2077 issues with optimization is a universal problem on all platforms. The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 was disappointing but time and update will tell how unfinished the game was if it has not already.
Cyberpunk 2077 the Most Anticipated Game
Cyberpunk 2077 was the most anticipated game of the year if not the entire generation. It was the game that could have changed the perception regarding RPGs. Cyberpunk 2077 launch was a disappointment which led to all sorts of negative behavior regarding the game. People were waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 for a long time and were not expecting it to go wrong. The game was announced eight years before it was released. It means that CD Projekt Red had 8 years to develop the game. Despite such a long development time, the game was not working upon release.
There are only two explanations for Cyberpunk 2077 issues and poor launch. The development phase of the game was not as long and the announcement was just for the hype. Maybe the game was too intensive for PS4 and Xbox One but the publishers still launched the game on these systems.
Development Phase
If the development phase was shorter then the game was not complete upon launch. Developers were just not utilizing the time and were trying to raise stock prices with false claims. The reputation of CD Projekt Red was good in the gaming community. Investors were excepting to see a good return on their investments. However, the final product was unfaithful to the promises of the developers. CD Projekt Red used the reputation and hype of the game to raise capital. Since the release of the game, CD Projekt Red’s stock has dropped 40% and investors are not happy.
Launch On PS4 and Xbox One
The announcement year of Cyberpunk 2077 May 2012 but its release date is December 10, 2020. During the eight-year development time, the game became very demanding due to the inclusion of new technology leading to Cyberpunk 2077 disappointing launch. Somewhere in the development, Cyberpunk 2077 turned into a next-gen game even though it was announced before the release of PS4 and Xbox One. If that was the case then why did they even release the game on these consoles? Well, the majority of players at the time of Cyberpunk 2077’s release are on either PS4 or Xbox One. Next-gen consoles are not that easy to come by due to high demand.
At the end of the day, CD Projekt Red is a developer and publisher so they have to sell games. The solution for it was to delay the game and release it on a next-gen console in the fall of 2021. This way there wouldn’t be so many bugs in the game and it would run fine on every platform. Such a delay would have also been good for the optimization of the game since it has optimization issues on every platform.
Early Announcement Was A Major Issue
Most of Cyberpunk 2077 issues stem from its early announcement. The game was announced in the year 2012 so people were expecting it to release in two to three years. Most successful games take two to three years to release after their announcement. For Cyberpunk 2077 the time was eight years making it hard to keep the hype. Developers had to spend a lot on the promotion of the game to keep everyone interested. Such a tactic made it possible for Cyberpunk 2077 to get more investors. The company’s stock price was on the rise since 2019 and after the release, it is an all-time low.
The situation became direr when Sony removed Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store. CD Projekt Red announced that all of Cyberpunk 2077’s copies can be returned to the respective stories. The refund policy was the sole decision of developers while ignoring all the stores. Sony claimed that CD Projekt Red has violated the trust of PlayStation and therefore, Cyberpunk 2077 won’t be on the PlayStation Store. Investors lost a lot of money and are now suing CD Projekt Red. The developers are saying that they will defend themselves against all claims.
CD Projekt Red’s Justification about the Launch
If a game was in development for 8 years then what’s the justification for messing it up? The game runs well on PC aside from few bugs. On my PC playthrough, I only experienced a couple of bugs but for some players, the game is extremely buggy. Performance is a huge issue for Xbox One and PS4. Cyberpunk 2077 system requirements are higher on PC then it should have been. The poor optimization of game assets is a major reason for poor performance. Optimization requires time which CD Projekt Red did not give it. Reviewers were only given a PC version of the game so the developers knew that it was not running well on consoles but released it anyway. The development time and poor performance on different platforms nullify all the claims from CD Projekt Red.
Verdict
Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most anticipated games of its time. Upon release, it turned into a total disappointment. It was in development for eight-year but it still wasn’t ready for release. The console version of the game is especially problematic as the poor optimization makes it a horrible experience. The PC version of the game still has problems but it shows the potential of Cyberpunk 2077 as an exceptional game. Problems with Cyberpunk include review manipulation, false marketing, hype, long development time, and poor performance. The hype that was supposed to help Cyberpunk 2077 backfired on it. If the was not such a high-profile game then the backlash would not be that harsh on it.
