CD Projekt Red's co-founder, Marcin Iwiński, has recently taken to the company's YouTube channel to explain what went wrong with the lackluster release of its newest triple-A game, "Cyberpunk 2077."
Iwiński says in the apology video that the devs had "underestimated" the challenging task in delivering the game for current-gen consoles of PS4 and Xbox One. While it runs perfectly on high-end PCs, "Cyberpunk 2077" caters to glitchy performances and choppy frame rates on the aging consoles.
Iwiński reveals that the devs did run a few tests before rolling out the final product last December. Still, unfortunately, it did not "show a big part of the issues" that console players have been experiencing.
"A lot of the dynamics we normally take for granted got lost over video calls or email. And we took that hit too," says the Polish-based programmer further in the video, blaming the hit of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many employees to start working and doing activities from home.
Darker Future Than the Night City
Released on December 10, "Cyberpunk 2077" was the most anticipated game of 2020 alongside Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us Part 2," Ubisoft's "Assasin's Creed: Valhalla," and Sucker Punch's "Ghost of Tsushima."
Unfortunately, several delays and gruesome crunch culture could not save Keanu Reeves-assisted title from an utter embarrassment. Many gamers were outraged by the final product, demanding full compensation.
As mentioned above, while the game works perfectly on PCs, PS4 and Xbox One players do not experience the best "Cyberpunk 2077" experience. Despite being heavily promoted as a game that pushes graphical limits to a new extent, "Cyberpunk 2077" experiences crashes, choppy frame rates, weird sound sync, and a plethora of problems on consoles.
Furthermore, both Sony (PS4) and Microsoft (Xbox One) pulled "Cyberpunk 2077" out of their respective online stores.
DLCs and Updates
However, CD Projekt Red is far from giving up from "Cyberpunk 2077," as the devs are working harder to ensure that the game runs perfectly regarding the system.
Besides the day one patch for various stability and performance improvements, CD Projekt Red has been continuously releasing "Hotfix" 1.04, 1.05, and 1.06 before 2021 started. There will be a "large" patch number 1 coming in January and the second large patch coming in February.
"We treat this entire situation very seriously and are working hard to make it right," Iwiński closes the video.
Iwiński also confirmed free DLCs and free next-gen consoles upgrade for any digital purchaser on PS4 and Xbox One systems. He also assured that the company will keep supporting the game, even beyond the second patch release.
"Cyberpunk 2077" is available on most major gaming platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia.
