CD Projekt Red takes a stand on the loot box discussion

Last week PC Gamer ran an interesting interview with CD Projekt Red's co-founder Marcin Iwiński about the online elements in Cyberpunk 2077. Speaking generally, Iwiński talked about the loot box controversy that surfaced late last year, and how it relates to the studio's next game.

Because Cyberpunk 2077 will be a full-priced release, players should expect "numerous hours of gameplay and a significant amount of content" for their investment. Therefore, CD Projekt Red intends to offer up "50-60+ hours of the main story-line, with up to a couple of hundred hours of side activities" (as they did in The Witcher 3), adding that they are "trying [their] best to over deliver" on our expectations.

Iwiński assured everyone reading that players won't have to worry about these monetisation methods in Cyberpunk 2077, and he illustrated his point by looking back at The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. For that game, CD Projekt Red released two big paid-for expansions (one of them very substantial) along with a series of smaller free DLC drops and updates. The studio was able to do this because of the successful sales of the base game, which offered a "big, polished piece of content, which gives you many, many hours of fun gameplay." On the other hand, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game can be played for free, although paying will save "time" and offer "convenience".

2017 showed that players will speak up if they feel exploited, and Iwiński supports that and seems to think that it's one way to move the industry forward: "Gamers are striking back, and I really hope this will change our industry for the better."