We all know that developing video games can be expensive, which is why it's important that they launch without a hitch. Unfortunately, Cyberpunk 2077's release was a bit rocky due to bugs that players just couldn't ignore, but CD Projekt Red spared no expense to redeem the game with the Phantom Liberty DLC.
Phantom Liberty is a Huge Success
The studio bet big on the game and it has yielded results. Even though it's just a DLC, CDPR poured so much effort and creativity into it, and along with the 2.0 update, Phantom Liberty was pretty much a whole different game for the game's fans.
It apparently cost roughly $63 million to create the expansion, and that's not including the marketing expenses that the company did not skimp on, which cost over $21 million. All in all, that makes Phantom Liberty worth $84 million, as reported by Kotaku.
Although it does help with fixing the tarnished reputation of the sci-fi dystopian game, the base game has long since been playable after several bug fixes and updates. The 2.0 update even brought overhauls to several systems that made the game much better.
The base Cyberpunk 2077 game cost $174 million to develop, along with $142 million spent on marketing alone. That's $316 million for something that people thought was a broken game. which is probably why CD Projekt Red was hellbent on restoring the game's image.
In terms of development costs, the numbers look pretty normal considering that Phantom Liberty was just an expansion, but comparing the marketing costs, CDPR evidently poured much more into the base game.
In the end, it was all worth it. Although potential players are still skeptical of the game and say that it's still unredeemed, those who have actually played the updated and fixed version say that the game is better than ever and is worth giving another shot.
The Franchise Intends to Branch Out More
As proof of the game's success, CDPR has since worked on or collaborated with other companies to create more Cyberpunk 2077 content. One example is its work with Studio Trigger in creating the Netflix anime series "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners," which generated good reviews.
In fact, CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that a live-action adaptation is already in the works. The video game studio will be collaborating with Anonymous Content, which was the film studio behind the titles "The Revenant," "Mr. Robot," and "True Detective."
It will be worked on by Head of Television Garret Kemble and Director of Development Ryan Schwartz, as well as Chief Creative Officer David Levine, who has been known to be an industry veteran who has worked on shows like "Westworld" and the early seasons of "Game of Thrones."
Since it's relatively new, there's not much to know about the project yet, just that the wheels are officially rolling and that the production team is already looking for a screenwriter for the live-action adaptation. Currently, it's still unknown if it will be a movie or a TV show.
