Those who were anticipating the release of Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2020 still remember the disappointment as the game was riddled with bugs and glitches. CD Projekt Red is yet to recover from that blunder, but the studio says it will make sure that The Witcher 4 will be different.
Fingers Crossed for The Witcher 4
CD Projekt Red has learned from its mistake with Cyberpunk 2077, particularly how little attention was given to the development of consoles leading to a buggy release. Not much is known about the next Witcher game, only that it's definitely happening.
Codenamed "Polaris," the succeeding game is already being tested through demos and performance reviews on consoles, according to Management and Audio Engineering Director Colin Walder, as opposed to being tested during the late stages like the sci-fi dystopian game.
With the early preparations and efforts to make sure that The Witcher 4 will run better on console, as reported by GameRant, fans of the franchise can be optimistic, especially since the issues with Cyberpunk 2077 was mostly from the PS4 and Xbox One version.
Although Phantom Liberty was actually successful upon release with minimal to no bugs, The Witcher 4 will serve as a larger-scale redemption for the video game studio, especially since The Witcher franchise has a bigger fanbase than its other game.
Other than that, it will save CDPR the trouble of spending millions to fix the game that was released in a rush. Fixing Cyberpunk 2077 actually cost the company more than $125 million. The game has already gone through a huge makeover and made up for costs.
It had a successful pre-order period with eight million units purchases. Since then, Cyberpunk 2077 has already sold 25 million units globally this October 2023, with the increase potentially brought by the 2.0 update that overhauled several systems within the game.
How Bad Was the Cyberpunk 2077 Release?
Calling it a bad release is an understatement. The game was so buggy that players would even use the game as an example of why developers should not rush a game launch. Many players who bought the game demanded refunds because it was basically unplayable.
Clips of the glitches emerged on social media showing tanks falling from the sky, the game crashing, and trees covering the floors of buildings, as per The New York Times. Some bugs even prevented players from progressing through the main storyline.
The demand for refunds was massive enough that Sony's customer service representatives were overwhelmed and had to take down one corporate site. Sony and Microsoft issued refunds and even took the game out of stores.
Bugs in games that have just been released are not new, but they are mostly minor and the game is still playable. It can sometimes even be fixed with publicly available mods. In Cyberpunk's case, not enough mods in the world could fix it.
What makes it an even bigger disaster is that CD Projekt Red is a studio that's held in high regard within the industry. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had sold 50 million units as of March 2023, and was regarded as one of the best games to date.
