‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Proved a Game Can Change Itself, But Not Its History
You know what they say: hype makes the world go ’round, and nowhere is that more true than video games. No matter who makes it or how big it is, gamers love to be excited for things, even if that means tearing down others excited for something they don’t like. When a game doesn’t live up to the hype, it can be disappointing, but when it does so in a pretty messy fashion? Then it’s a spectacle. This is exactly what happened with CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. The action-RPG based on Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop series had a lot of hype behind it: even before CDPR was riding the high of The Witcher 3’s massive success, Cyberpunk had been in development for quite a while. Its E3 2018 trailer, its more official reveal compared to a two-minute teaser from 2013, wowed viewers. And when E3 2019’s trailer ended with the reveal of Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand, it was like CDPR was the physical manifestation of god, and gamers basically asked, “Could we get more peak?”
And then the game came out. © CD Projekt Red To say the Cyberpunk 2077 we got for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on December 10, 2020 was different from what had been shown back then would be an understatement. Despite reviewing generally well at launch, there was no denying its technical issues, particulalry on consoles, and things were so bad, Sony delisted it entirely from the PlayStation Store a week after launch. (On PS4, I once fell through the floor and lost at least an hour of progress from an autosave bug.) CDPR had basically eroded its goodwill earned by Witcher 3 in real time, not helped when we learned about the game’s troubled development that included months of crunch after studio co-founder Marcin Iwiński very publicly stated this wouldn’t be the case.
From that point on, CDPR went about redeeming the name of what it hoped would be the start of another long-term IP. Standalone multiplayer and a second expansion (potentially set on the moon) were shelved in favor of patches and updates. Helpful as these were to the game’s rehab process, what really sealed the deal was Studio Trigger’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Announced months before the game’s launch and coming out mid-apology tour, the anime was a godsend. Critical and audience acclaim sent viewers to check out the game during its turnaround period, and the developer paid it back by referencing the show in its big 2.0 update from 2023 that followed the game’s release on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S a year prior.
Said update was the final word on Cyberpunk 2077, as far as CDPR was concerned. With an overhaul to the RPG systems, the game was now what it should’ve been from the start and came just before Phantom Liberty, the game’s single expansion. The studio knew it had a new lease on life and successfully changed things for the better, as punctuated by a promo wherein Idris Elba stares at the camera and says: “The game is fixed.” Meta, yes, a good line to go out on, certainly. A deserved bit of back patting? Ehhhh…
Video games are no strangers to reappraisal and second shots at life, which are never really unwelcome. But in Cyberpunk’s case, something has always felt a bit…off for one reason or another. Maybe it’s because of its pre-release marketing and CDPR’s online behavior that was interpreted by many as transphobic and edgy. Could also be the studio’s repeated insistence of “the game is good now” over the three-year period felt as desperate as it did declarative, as quarterly and yearly financial reports often touted the game as a reliable moneymaker as sales and player numbers grew and grew. Whatever you want to chalk it up to, it’s made talking about Cyberpunk’s life and continued presence more contentious than other games with similarly rocky launches. Players who invested much of their lives and personality into the game certainly wanted not just a turnaround, but to whitewash how things actually went down, insisting it was great from the start, particularly after Cyberpunk was recognized for its new and improved state at the 2023 Game Awards. CDPR, while more than proud of the work achieved in three years, did not play ball in that sense: staff openly acknowledged how fraught its initial development was, and simultaneously discussed how work conditions at the studio have since changed and how Phantom Liberty could further help to “make [things] right,” in the words of expansion director Gabe Amatangelo back in 2023.
In a way, Cyberpunk 2077 did “get away with it,” as some said happened when Edgerunners first caught everyone’s eye. A sequel is on the horizon, as is another Edgerunners anime and live-action series, further contributing to parasocial pride at the franchise’s continued existence. (There’s probably also more TV and game spinoffs of some kind being planned, similar to what’s being done with Witcher.) What’ll ultimately be the biggest tell for Cyberpunk 2077 as a franchise and CD Projekt Red as a developer will be the language and attitude around the incoming sequel and whatever we learn of its development. The game is fixed, yeah—but is CDPR going to play by the same rules as before? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
