Why Cyberpunk 2077 was destined to disappoint

We’re not even a week removed from the launch of CD Projekt Red’s much anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s safe to say it could have gone better. After eight years of non-stop hype, devoted followers of the game were expecting nothing short of a life changing experience. Hell, even casual gamers had ridiculously high hopes for Cyberpunk 2077. But there’s no denying that the ‘finished’ product is a flop – whether it broke sales records or not.

So. Many. Bugs.

To say it’s struggling on last-gen consoles would be an understatement. For many, the game is almost unplayable thanks to disastrous frame rates, constant texture pop-in, and an unending list of other bugs and glitches hampering quest progression, character creation, and NPC interaction. I’m playing the PS4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 via backwards compatibility on PS5, and while performance is generally solid and the game’s visuals are pretty great, I’ve encountered my fair share of issues after just a few hours.

Almost every NPC in the bar at the beginning of the story failed to move their mouths when talking. If their lips did move, the audio was out of sync. When I equipped a hat, it was invisible and V’s hair disappeared. As I first set foot on Night City’s streets, I noticed duplicate NPCs stood side-by-side. While trying to progress through my first mission with Jackie, essential characters were inexplicably missing, and doors were stuck and wouldn’t open (I couldn’t finish the quest without loading an autosave). I was also disappointed to see just how underpopulated Night City is in comparison to previous trailers. This supposed metropolis just feels empty.

Take it easy, fanboys.

Underneath all these problems are the foundations of a fantastic game, and I love its story and atmosphere. I just can’t help but feel disappointed and deflated while I play it. Sure – PC players may be having a far better time and critics’ reviews have been stellar (perhaps because review codes were only provided for PC, mind). However, the writing was on the wall for Cyberpunk’s lacklustre release.

Obsessive, cult-like behaviour has long plagued video games and entertainment in general. This has been made worse in recent years with the encouragement and celebration of super fandoms on social media. From Twitter to Reddit, they are everywhere. These fandoms are often blinded to any information deemed negative about their obsession of choice. In the case of Cyberpunk 2077, fans had decided long before its release that it was going to be the greatest game ever created. They wouldn’t hear otherwise, ignored possible red flags, and were outraged with each consecutive delay.

Fans were so confident of the game’s inevitable success, they argued there was no need to delay it further and badgered CD Projekt Red to release Cyberpunk as soon as possible. They were sick of waiting and didn’t hesitate to send abuse and death threats to the developers. What many failed to realise was that delays happen for a reason – usually because a game just isn’t ready. By placing Cyberpunk on such a lofty pedestal, they doomed it to failure. It could never live up to those expectations, and this made the issues that now burden it even more egregious – especially in the eyes of its once loyal fanbase. And maybe they only have themselves to blame for that.

Red flags. Everywhere.

Of course, there are the reported problems at CD Projekt Red itself. Initially, company employees were promised there wouldn’t be a crunch period (where staff are required to work longer hours to finish a project). The promise was broken, with crunch being implemented in a desperate attempt to achieve Cyberpunk’s launch date of 19^th November. This day came and went without it reaching shelves. Obviously, the game wasn’t ready and no amount of ‘crunch’ was going to get it in a fit state for release before Christmas.

When it went gold in October, it seemed things were on the right track – but a last minute three-week postponement to 10^th December signaled trouble. How could a supposedly finished game be delayed again? Apparently, problems had arisen with Cyberpunk’s performance and optimisation on PS4 and Xbox One. Things just weren’t up to standard, and the studio needed more time to get these versions to an acceptable level.

Footage of the title running on last-gen consoles was scarce, and CDPR seemed keen for people to forget these platforms existed. Most gameplay was shown running on PC, PS5 or Xbox Series X, with the majority of eighth-gen demos coming from the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. I wondered why despite prior acknowledgement that next-gen versions wouldn’t arrive until 2021, it appeared the PS4 and Xbox One versions were being marketed as just that. Perhaps because CDPR knew Cyberpunk wasn’t up to scratch on the old hardware, and hoped to avoid criticism if the majority forwent playing it on those consoles and tried it on PS5 or Xbox Series X instead?

Whether the ultimate blame falls to obsessive fan culture or a developer that overpromised and underdelivered, I think we can all agree that Cyberpunk 2077’s current state is far from acceptable and let a lot of people down. Games should be sold as advertised. And if we’re comparing what we got to what was presented to us in trailers past, there are obvious discrepancies. In future, exercising restraint and waiting to have a video game in our hands before making radical claims of perfection should go a long way to avoid such disappointment. Remember – video games are a product and you are a consumer. You don’t owe a product your support – it has to earn it.

UPDATE

CD Projekt Red have issued the following apology on Twitter regarding the game’s numerous performance and technical issues:

Have you played Cyberpunk 2077? Have you encountered any issues with the game, or has it been plain sailing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and don’t forget to check out our other gaming articles…

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Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt Red