Cyberpunk 2077 is in a great state right now, but as we know things weren't always sunshine and roses. At launch, the game was seen as somewhat of a disaster, especially for older consoles which couldn't really run it at all.
Now, Michał Platkow-Gilewski, CD Projekt's VP of PR and communication, has spoken with GamesIndustry.biz to outline where the publisher went wrong, and how it can make good on prior mistakes. He said:
"We're in a cool moment right now. Yes, the road was bumpy. When everything was awesome and amazing before the release of Cyberpunk... it was the time of my life, but it was too good to be true. The game was shaping up to be amazing, and we were all super hyped. But this hype surrounding us was a big pressure. Then there was the release, and it was not a fairy tale anymore. We knew that we had to work hard to come back. It was a tough moment for everyone. We had to rebuild a lot of things inside of the company. We started with pipelines on the dev side; we thought, 'Should we tie our future with a different engine or should we stay with our own? We made some decisions about how we work, how we are structured. It was a big rebuilding. At the same time as this, we knew we wanted to work on Cyberpunk and make not just a great expansion but also improve several things in the base game. It was quite a journey, but right now, I am just excited to see what people will say when they start playing."
Platkow-Gilewski went on to talk about regrets with the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, but believes that the best way to restore the relationship with the fans is just to deliver content of a great quality.
"I was personally not happy with how things turned out. I was not expecting that. I knew immediately that we had to come back. I liked the spot we were in. I'm not talking about the peak of hype, but two years before that, we had our community, we liked them, they liked us, and it was awesome to work at CD Projekt RED. After the release, it was tough, but I knew we had the same people. The gamers are the same... we just need to fix our relationship. The only thing we can truly do is just deliver what we are capable of. I have a feeling that soon we will be able to do that, and hopefully, that will be a new beginning for everyone."
Do you think Cyberpunk 2077 has redeemed itself, or are you still wanting more from CD Projekt Red?