CD Projekt Red Says Cyberpunk 2077’s Launch Wasn’t That Bad

Cyberpunk 2077’s launch wasn’t nearly as bad as reviews made it out to be, at least according to CD Projekt Red vice president of public relations Michał Platkow-Gilewski.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz (via Kotaku), Platkow-Gilewski chalked up the game’s poor reception to bandwagoning, stating that, at some point, it became “cool” to hate the game.

“I actually believe Cyberpunk, on launch, was way better than it was received,” he said. “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.”

In reality, the game was so poorly received Sony felt compelled to remove it from the PlayStation Store just days after it launched. The game was only added back to Sony’s digital storefront after developers spent over six months working to improve the game.

But despite his comments, Platkow-Gilewski did acknowledge that the game had its fair share of issues, and assured players that the studio is committed to delivering a quality product, even if the initial showing was rather lackluster.

“[The COVID-19 pandemic] started when we were still making Cyberpunk, but now we have the time to work on these tools to develop them, to create best practices,” Platkow-Gilewski explained. ” it’s an interesting time.”

The studio is currently preparing for the launch of Cyberpunk 2077’s first DLC, Phantom Liberty, which is set to release on September 26, 2023 (and is available for preorder now). The DLC offers the studio a unique opportunity to earn a second chance from players who were initially put off by the game’s rocky launch, and CD Projekt Red is taking full advantage of this.

“At the same time as this [DLC], we knew we wanted to work on Cyberpunk and make not just a great expansion, but also improve a lot of things in the base game,” Platkow-Gilewski said of the DLC’s development. “It was quite a journey, but right now I am just excited to see what people will say when they start playing.”

Though it’s only available on current-gen platforms, the Phantom Liberty DLC introduces another character to the game who is played by a Hollywood actor (Idris Elba, in this case). But behind all the hype, Platkow-Gilewski says the development team is committed to fixing more of the game’s issues.

“For me, as the person responsible for communication, I want to rebuild the connection with gamers, because we had people following us for years and they were disappointed [in the launch],” Platkow-Gilewski explained. “That, for me, is the biggest thing. We have to make the game for them.”