CDProjekt Red CEO says Cyberpunk didn’t finish its ‘redemption arc’, hopes The Witcher 4 will win over those who ‘lost faith’
“We lost the faith of some people indefinitely, and that’s a fair thing”
The co-CEO of CD Projekt Red says he still doesn’t believe Cyberpunk 2077 fully redeemed itself, and that he still hopes to win back those players who lost faith in the studio.
When Cyberpunk 2077 was initially released in 2020, it was considered one of the most high-profile disastrous launches in recent memory.
After three delays, the RPG released for PC and consoles with a host of technical problems, resulting in refunds being offered, the game being pulled from the PlayStation Store, and CD Projekt facing lawsuits alleging it misled investors over the quality of the title.
Following six months of patches designed to improve the game, it returned to Sony’s online marketplace in June 2021, when CD Projekt said it believed Cyberpunk 2077‘s performance had reached a “satisfying” level.
In the six years since its initial release, a number of large updates have seen a turnaround in Cyberpunk 2077’s fortunes. The game now has 88% positive reviews on Steam, and last year CD Projekt announced it had sold 35 million copies, hitting the milestone faster than The Witcher 3.
Despite all this, CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michał Nowakowski says he still thinks the studio needs to win over players who were disappointed by that initial launch.
Speaking at an Edge in Person conversation at DevGAMM Gdánsk (as reported by Knowledge), Nowakowski said Cyberpunk 2077’s launch period was “heartbreaking” for the studio, and that because its reputation was its “biggest asset”, the key priority was putting it back on an upward path.
While the number of sales and positive feedback suggests this was achieved, Nowakowski said: “I’m not 100% convinced we went through the full redemption arc.”
He added: “I’m convinced that we lost the faith of some people indefinitely, and that’s a fair thing. But I do hope we will be able to make it back – if not with The Witcher 4, then with whatever comes next.”
Nowakowski added that the one positive that came from Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was that the studio was “left with seasoned, battle-hardened veterans – leaders who were able to carry a different kind of challenge on their shoulders.”
