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Game publisher CD Projekt Red today released a massive downloadable patch for “Cyberpunk 2077,” promising that the update will apply over 500 fixes and improvements to the futuristic action-adventure.
Why is this important: “Cyberpunk 2077 ”was one of the hottest new video games of 2020, but it launched in December in rough form and has become one of the biggest debacles in the industry. Today’s patch is part of an attempt to meet the game’s initial expectations.
- If you haven’t seen “Cyberpunk 2077”, consider “Grand Theft Auto” but in the future. The game allows players to create and control a protagonist named V, who explores and fights his way through the crime-ridden metropolis of Night City.
- “Cyberpunk” got off to a hot start, selling over 13 million copies in its first two weeks of release on PC, Google’s Stadia service and game consoles.
- But it performed so poorly, especially on the aging but widely used PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, that CD Projekt quickly began to encourage and offer refunds, even though Sony PlayStation pulled the flagship version from its online store. .
Between the lines: Upon the game’s release, the CDPR was pilloried by frustrated fans who said they were baited by months of promoting a game far better looking than what came out. The studio quickly began to apologize.
- When asked in a December 14 phone call with investors about the performance of console gaming, CEO Marcin Iwiński said, “We certainly haven’t spent enough time looking at this.
This new hotfix, patch 1.20, was scheduled for February, but the studio said at the end of last month that it would be delayed due to a ransomware attack on company computers.
The big picture: Game developers and publishers are often able to use post-release fixes to fix games that launch in rough condition.
- In recent years, Square-Enix’s’ Final Fantasy XIV ‘, Ubisoft’s’ Rainbow Six Siege’ and Hello Games’ ‘No Man’s Sky’ have all been shredded by critics and gamers at launch and have been digitally rehabilitated into hits. beloved and lucrative.
For CDPR, “Cyberpunk” issues are particularly embarrassing. The studio is a cultural institution in its native Poland, so much so that in 2011 then Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave then US President Barack Obama a copy of CDPR’s game “The Witcher 2 ”.
- His previous game, “The Witcher 3”, sold 50 million copies and should bode well for future success.
- The CDPR went out of their way with “Cyberpunk,” even hiring Keanu Reeves as a digital guest star in the game and to physically exaggerate the game in TV commercials.
- Company stock hit an all-time high of $ 31 per week before the release of “Cyberpunk,” but fell quickly. It’s $ 15 today.
What they say. A representative from CDPR told Axios that the new patch should demonstrate that they are not giving up the game.
- But CDPR declined to say when “Cyberpunk” would be sold again on the online PlayStation Store, as it remains off-sale in one of its biggest potential markets.
- A Sony representative also didn’t comment on the game’s return date.
And after: The massive patch, which is over 40GB on Xbox (the game itself is almost 60GB on Xbox), will take players time to download and even more to try.
- The first reports indicate that the corrected version is playing a little better.
- But the problem remains that “Cyberpunk” on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 doesn’t look as good as the game’s lengthy promotional campaign.
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