To say thatCyberpunk 2077had a shaky release would be putting it lightly. While the game did top sales charts, it came out underdeveloped, having glitches in both its PC and console iterations. The console edition had enough issues thatSony and Microsoft had to start offering refunds for the game, and they even had to put a disclaimer up for future buyers, which doesn’t typically happen with AAA titles.
CD Projekt Red has a respected reputation thanks to its work onThe Witcher 3, so the number of issues surroundingCyberpunk 2077was unexpected for many. To try and figure out what went wrong, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier asked some current and former CD Projekt Red employees about their take on the subject. Since then, the outlet has claimed several things, such asCD Projekt Red’s employees being surprised byCyberpunk 2077’s release date, and how theCyberpunk 2077E3 demo was fake.
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These accusations garnered a response from Adam Badowski, CD Projekt Red’s Studio Head. Badowski tweeted at Schreier to offer his comments and corrections on the report. Badowski disputes three things in particular: First, theCyberpunk 2077E3 demo wasn’t a fake; changes were just made that resulted in the final product. Second, he said Schreier doesn’t know if “most” employees were surprised by the game’s release date as he only talked to 20 out of about 500 individuals. Third, he said there’s no strict company rule saying employees can’t use their native language in front of those who can’t speak it.
In his comments, Badowski doesn’t really address the “employee” accusations levied by Schreier’s article. For instance, Badowski’s response about some employees suggesting those speaking another language made them feel ‘ostracized’ boils down to him saying CD Projekt Red has no control over that. For some observers, Badowski doesn’t seem to provide confidence in the quality of CD Projekt Red’s workplace, which is one angle Schreier is playing at regarding theperformance ofCyberpunk’s console debut.
It would be interesting to hear more from the overallCyberpunkdevelopment team, as Badowski suggests that the majority would contradict Schreier’s claims. However, such a thing likely isn’t feasible, and past incidents such as the contradictory implementation ofCyberpunk’s mandatory crunch order, and the initial callousness that CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski seemingly had toward said crunch order, make it hard to disprove Schreier’s reporting.
Cyberpunk 2077is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.
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