Yesterday, CD Projekt Red had a big emergency call with investors who discussed the status of Cyberpunk 2077 and what it means for its DLC and multiplayer plans. It’s no secret that the game’s release came with a lot of bugs, I’ve experienced a lot of things on the PC, but for the latest generation console gamers, Cyberpunk is in an even sadder state. CDPR says it is now focusing on improving the base game, but there are concerns about the amount of work that may affect the new content planned for the next two years.
“After three delays, we were too focused on launching the game. We underestimated the scale and complexity of the problems, “said Adam Kiciński, chairman of the CDPR board.
“We ignored the signals about the need for extra time to refine gaming on state-of-the-art base consoles. It was a wrong approach and against our business philosophy.”
The next part of the recording is a bit fuzzy, but it talks about how the developers have “lost the trust of the players,” as well as the reputation they’ve been building. To fix this, he reiterates the same points mentioned in the CDPR statement released yesterday, saying that there are big patches on the way for the Xbone and PS4 versions of Cyberpunk, with periodic updates and fixes that also come to PC.
“We will do our best to show that we adhere to our values,” he adds. “We really hope that our efforts will help rebuild the confidence we have lost.”
Over the next 40 minutes of the call, questions arose from investors who wanted to know how Cyberpunk’s problems could have been avoided and whether any of this would affect their ability to get the next DLC and multiplayer mode during the next two years.
I admit that’s what interests me the most, I’d love to run around Night City with my friends sooner rather than later, but CDPR seems a little unsure about their multiplayer launch plans now.
“It’s too early to judge,” Kiciński says. “It simply came to our notice then. We are now focusing on improving Cyberpunk and will talk about it early next year. “
Unfortunately, another businessman is wondering whether CDPR should try to remove Cyberpunk multiplayer in 2023, as opposed to the vaguely expected 2022. Kiciński repeats his previous point, saying that “they have not yet confirmed any date ”And will discuss it in January.
CDPR is wondering if the game could have been done with more testing before the release. Kiciński says that while it was not “a major source of trouble,” the CDPR did less testing than they would have liked because of the Covid-19. Most testing was done in-house because the CDPR was able to send the kit to staff working from home, while external testing was more difficult because it would have to be done in testing centers.
Another investor asks if having more developers in general would have made a difference, which board member Michał Nowakowski says no, pulling more people would not have really helped.
Nowakowski adds that the reasons why the latest generation versions of Cyberpunk have been broken is because “they focused on the performance of the new generation and the PC instead of the current generation.”
Despite this approach, however, players on all platforms have reported a lot of discomfort, from crashes to barely disappearing. For many PC gamers, innovative things seem to be minimal, though they definitely still exist. Personally, I’ve had the Jackie phase through some walls, which makes me have to restart missions, which isn’t particularly fun.
The CDPR has already launched a small review to fix some issues, but it looks like they still have a lot of work ahead of them.