By now, everyone is familiar with the controversy that surrounded the original release of Cyberpunk 2077 at the end of 2020. While the project received a second chance and is now in a better state, the stain on CD Projekt RED's legacy remains indelible.
Developers from the studio discussed the disastrous launch of the role-playing game in a new, hour-long documentary released by Ard Media. There, they talked about what Phantom Liberty means for the project and reflected on the game's initial poor reception.
"When You're at the Top, the Fall Is Painful," CDPR Reflects on Cyberpunk 2077's Launch
One of the most recognizable figures in the community is Paweł Sasko, the director of quests. After the game's launch, he conducted multiple live streams where he discussed the game's status with the community.
"When you're at the top, the fall is very painful. For me, Phantom Liberty is the final word that we can say and where we can show what we really wanted players to feel, what we wanted to give them, what the game was supposed to be," the creative director stated.
In a similar vein, level designer Miles Tost stated that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt put CDPR at the pinnacle in the realm of role-playing games; however, he reflected that to reach that point, they had produced three installments of the fantasy franchise, while Cyberpunk 2077 was the first title in a new IP.
"We repeated many of our old mistakes that we got away with in The Witcher 3. But this time, the project was much bigger, more complex, and involved so many people that we simply fell flat on our faces," said Miles Tost, who also admitted that he had considered leaving the studio at some point.
The current head of CD Projekt RED, Adam Badowski, acknowledged that the team should have spent more time refining the game's technology.
"It was my fault. Our games are super complex and large. Quite extensive in terms of navigation (...) I thought that world-building was the most important thing for me, and navigation. I focused on that and lost sight of how big and important technical excellence is."
The Resurgence of Cyberpunk 2077
Undoubtedly, the story of this science fiction RPG is worth studying. The Polish studio is now in a better position, and there is great anticipation for the release of the Phantom Liberty expansion. Getting to this point, however, was a challenging task.
While developers released multiple patches to address technical issues, Cyberpunk 2077 finally found its second wind last year thanks to the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
With the release of Netflix's animated series, the RPG saw a surge in popularity on Steam and set a new sales record. Furthermore, it received a wave of positive reviews.
But tell us, what do you think of the words of these creatives? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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