Redemption isn’t something we talk about too often in the gaming space. Many times, including in recent times, some developers or publishers spiral so much that redemption simply isn’t a possibility for them. Or, if they “fail” with one game, the dev teams likely have another that will help the company “bounce back” in a major way, so that’s not a true story of redemptions. In the case of CD Projekt Red, though, it had a clear case of redemption from an unlikely source. Specifically, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty was the very special DLC that saved the company from being a complete failure and losing all goodwill with fans.
Let’s rewind the clocks to 2020, shall we? Admittedly, it was not the best year over, but it only got worse when CD Projekt Red launched its highly-anticipated future RPG, only for it to be one of the most broken things ever released in the history of gaming. Seriously, unless you had the most high-end PC ever, you couldn’t play it. Thus, gamers returned the title in droves, Sony even stopped sales of the game for a period, and CD Projekt Red had to scramble to save things.
Alongside a certain Netflix series, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty was the “saving grace” for the title, as CD Projekt Red put everything and everyone it had into refining the game mechanics, the game’s world, and providing a meaningful DLC scenario for fans to enjoy. Oh, and it had Idris Elba involved, which didn’t hurt one bit.
The DLC was praised by critics and fans alike, and today, CD Projekt Red revealed that the DLC has sold eight million units:
That’s incredible for numerous reasons. First, it highlights how many people were willing to come back to Night City to see what this spy-esque adventure would be like and how word-of-mouth proved that this DLC was worth getting. There are mainline games that don’t get anywhere close to eight million in sales, so for a DLC to do it is incredible.
Of course, the irony here is that despite its incredible reception and sales, it wasn’t nominated for certain awards from certain award shows. You know, like The Game Awards? When it announced that DLC would be considered for “Game of the Year” if it was “worthy” in 2024, fans immediately pointed to what CD Projekt Red did and wondered why this wasn’t considered last year.
No matter what, CD Projekt Red knows what it has to do for the game’s true sequel, and they know that this redemption can’t be wasted.
