Cyberpunk 2077 development disaster just exposed by staff

Cyberpunk 2077 development disaster simply exposed by staff

(Image credit: CD Projekt Crimson)

The studio behind Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Cherry-red, has already outlined a timeline for fixing the game over the coming year and apologized for its unfinished feel. But a new in-depth study from Bloomberg, based on interviews with more 20 electric current and former staff, suggests that the state of the game on release was anything just a surprise.

While the game was originally announced in 2012 — a yr ahead of the PS4 and Xbox One'south release, and three years before The Witcher three'due south debut — the company wouldn't brainstorm working on it properly until "belatedly 2016." At that point, the report'due south sources say CD Projekt Red "essentially hit the reset push button" irresolute the game from tertiary to showtime person perspective amongst other things.

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It also didn't help that the company was plainly trying to build the engine and game simultaneously — something akin to "trying to bulldoze a train while the tracks are being laid in front of yous at the aforementioned time," co-ordinate to i team fellow member.

The E3 trailer which wowed the world in 2018 was "almost entirely fake," the report adds, which is why features similar machine ambushes were in the demo but absent in the final product.

The written report is full of interesting details, but overall information technology paints a picture of an overambitious and overworked studio working with faith that things would exist okay due to the success of The Witcher 3. While the problems were undoubtedly exacerbated by the pandemic and the need to piece of work remotely (admission to panel dev kits were limited, pregnant the horrendous functioning bug on last-gen consoles weren't every bit obvious every bit they would exist otherwise), it sounds like this was only ane piece of a larger dysfunctional puzzle.

When the game's initial release date of April 16, 2020 was announced, Bloomberg's sources claim that they knew information technology was only a matter of time before it was delayed, some creating memes and making bets on when the inevitable would happen.

Since publication, game director Adam Badowski has responded to some of the elements of the report on Twitter.

I've read your piece and tweets, thank you for the read. I have some thoughts. https://t.co/T3qACdrnwM pic.twitter.com/wuzy5lXoqQJanuary sixteen, 2021

In particular, he takes issue with the idea that the E3 demo was "imitation," arguing that it's merely a reflection of the non-linear way that games are developed, while also suggesting that a sample of 20 employees (some of them ex employees, and mostly anonymous) doesn't necessarily reverberate the feelings of the squad as a whole. That'south possibly truthful, though to be clear, unnamed sources are unlikely to exist an effect: speaking on the condition of anonymity is oft the only way that sources volition be aboveboard, given the potential risk to their career otherwise.

In any instance, Cyberpunk 2077'due south journeying remains unfinished, and the team has committed to ii more large patches, multiple smaller updates and improvements, free DLC and free next-gen panel updates before the twelvemonth is out. Hopefully over time, the game anybody hoped to see volition emerge from the controversy as a archetype to stand the test of time.

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, roofing phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the spider web and in the occasional magazine as well. When non weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, yous'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more than likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.