Cyberpunk 2077 Devs Issue Apology for Bad Game

Twitter is all abuzz with the overabundance of bugs, glitches, and constant disconnects of the super-hyped, newly released dystopian video game, Cyberpunk 2077. So many people are having issues with the game that CD Projekt RED, the Cyberpunk 2077 devs, issued an apology for the game.

Cyberpunk 2077’s December 10 release was rocky from the beginning. The futuristic, action RPG based on the tabletop game Cyberpunk was announced back in 2012 and released a teaser trailer in 2013. Since then, the game has amassed a lot of fan hype only to have its 2020 release date pushed back three times due to Covid-19, and trying to steer clear of the toxic, yet widely practiced crunch culture.

Just before Cyberpunk 2077 was released, Game Informer released a review, nay, a cautionary guide for players who may be prone to seizures. At that time, the game had no warning during opening credits and several aspects could trigger seizures. CD Projekt RED quickly responded to the article and, moments before the game was released, added a hotfix to the download to include a warning.

Unfortunately, that would not be the last of CDPR’s woes with their highly anticipated game. Fans reported that gameplay on last gen consoles, PS4 and Xbox One, was pretty bad. Even some PC players (myself included) had issues. From glitches, bugs, bad graphics, and constant game crashes, so many players felt let down by Cyberpunk 2077, so much so that #Cyberbug2077 was trending on Twitter.

Because of the continued complaints about the game and the revelation that they didn’t pay enough attention to then current gen consoles, CDPR issued an apology to customers.

First of all, we would like to start by apologizing to you for not showing the game on base last-gen consoles before it premiered and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase. We should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

CD Projekt RED Conference Call

Cyberpunk 2077 sold more than 8 million copies in pre-orders alone and received widespread critical acclaim for the story and next-level game mechanics. When reviews of the game on PS4 and Xbox slammed the Polish game studio’s project, CD Projekt SA stocks fell 9.4 percent.

During board meeting call at CD Projekt RED, Joint-CEO Adam Kiciński, Joint-CEO, and cofounder Marcin Iwiński, CFO Piotr Nielubowicz, and Head of Publishing Michał Nowakowski answered questions about Cyberpunk 2077.

To start their meeting, Kiciński opened by laying out the situation for shareholders.

After 3 delays, we as the Management Board were too focused on releasing the game. We underestimated the scale and complexity of the issues, we ignored the signals about the need for additional time to refine the game on the base last-gen consoles. It was the wrong approach and against our business philosophy. On top of that, during the campaign, we showed the game mostly on PCs.

This caused the loss of gamers’ trust and the reputation that we’ve been building through a big part of our lives. That’s why our first steps are solely focused on regaining those two things. We are concentrated on fixing Cyberpunk on last-gen consoles. The first substantial set of fixes was released over the weekend. The next set of fixes will be released within the next seven days. Big updates are planned for January and February, together with smaller fixes. Of course, PC gamers will also be getting regular updates and fixes to improve the game. We will do everything possible to prove that we stick to our values. We truly hope that our efforts will let us rebuild the trust we have lost.

When asked to elaborate on his comment about last gen consoles, Nowakowski admitted they, “definitely did not spend enough time looking at” the problems with last gen consoles but are in the process of working on another update to roll out around December 22.

As for why we only saw PC gameplay and not console, Iwiński explained that the gameplay we saw was from both PC and next gen consoles. They intentionally hid last gen gameplay because they were updating last gen consoles up until the very last minute. Reviewers were given the game just one day prior to Cyberpunk’s release. While hardcore fans will say the game was made for next-gen consoles, the next gen version of the game isn’t even ready.

Cyberpunk 2077 was developed in coordination with Nvidia and most PC players seem to be content with the gameplay. But there are still some who experience disconnects, bugs, and other glitches. CDPR is determined to win back shareholders’ and gamers’ trust by fixing all problems and giving customers the game that was promised. We’ll try to keep up you up-to-date with the latest Cyberpunk 2077 update.