CD Projekt Red was working hard to deliver a new thrilling RPG experience after The Witcher 3. The hype was massive as well, with the development studio known for bringing out deep RPGs, and over the years, we continued to watch for marketing materials to highlight a bit more of what Cyberpunk 2077 offered. Fans couldn’t wait to get their hands on the game, but each time we approached its release date, the game was pushed back. Then when the delays finally dried up, and CD Projekt Red stuck to a launch date, fans were quick to take shots at just how rough the game build was.
It left the development team scrambling to gather up any bugs they could from the title. But that wasn’t an easy feat. Plenty of issues with the game took the developers years to reach a stable point. We even watched as Sony pulled the game from their digital storefront. Now the dust has settled, Cyberpunk 2077 is readily available again on Sony’s digital storefront, and marketing has been in full swing for the expansion. Recently, Gamesindustry.biz had the chance to speak with Michal Platkow-Gilewski, the VP of PR and communication at CD Projekt Red.
During their conversation, Michal spoke of how the obstacles the developers faced, such as the COVID pandemic, which put developers out of the studio. But besides that, it was a learning experience from Cyberpunk 2077 as the studio reworked internally to avoid crunch going forward. They admitted how tough it was to see the game launch and how they needed to fix their relationship with gamers.
It’s not the best moment for that. Everyone was waiting for the release. These changes would have happened anyway, but [the Cyberpunk situation] was another motivation. It was a wake-up call, to say let’s rebuild, let’s restructure, let’s rethink… what can learn from this? It’s not an easy fix. It’s not like you can decide to do something differently starting tomorrow. It’s a process that’ll probably take a lot of time, but I can see that the company works in a different way than it used to. And no-one wants to repeat the mistakes that were made.
Michal Platkow-Gilewski – Gamesindustry.biz
Now that the studio has been reshaped, the team has time to reflect. For instance, the VP of PR went on to say that they didn’t believe Cyberpunk 2077 was as bad as players made it sound. In his eyes, he felt as if it was a cool trend to hate the game. Fortunately, the press previews so far for the upcoming expansion, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, have been great as it not only added new content for the game but also made plenty of changes to the base mechanics.
I actually believe Cyberpunk on launch was way better than it was received, and even the first reviews were positive. Then it became a cool thing not to like it. We went from hero to zero really fast. That was the tough moment. We didn’t know what was happening. We knew that the game is great, yes we can improve it, yes we need to take time to do it, and we need to rebuild some stuff.
Michal Platkow-Gilewski – Gamesindustry.biz
Currently, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is set to launch on September 26, 2023. When the expansion launches, it will be available for the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Likewise, we know that this expansion will add new quests, characters, and items to the game. Meanwhile, the narrative journey is set within the base campaign, where you’ll even get an opportunity to unlock a completely new ending for the base game.
