Cyberpunk 2077 had one of the roughest launches the video game industry has ever seen, and the last-gen console versions are still fundamentally broken and unplayable. The launch even resulted in a class-action lawsuit being filed against CD Projekt Red, for the misleading marketing of Cyberpunk 2077.
The studio, sadly, has a lot of work to do going forward, not only to smooth out Cyberpunk 2077 but also to regain the trust of its fanbase. Outside of the monetary loss, CD Projekt's image has undoubtedly been tarnished. This is especially disappointing considering all the goodwill the studio built up with the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Cyberpunk 2077's situation also raises the questions of where CD Projekt goes from here, and how this could affect whatever game it makes next. Adam Kiciński, President of CD Projekt Red, has confirmed the studio's next game will be set in the world of The Witcher, although it won't star Geralt. Moving forward, however, Cyberpunk 2077's tumultuous launch will undoubtedly have a ripple effect.
Cyberpunk 2077 was clearly pushed out before it was ready, highlighted by the wealth of bugs and glitches present on even high-end PCs. CD Projekt had a post-launch DLC plan, which has had to be pushed back a bit to address the state of the game with patches. At the very least, Cyberpunk's state will delay how soon the studio can enter full development on the next Witcher games. The studio likely already has a small team in the preliminary stages, but with tons of patches, free DLC, PS5 and Xbox Series X versions, and expansions, the studio will need to keep a large set of devs on Cyberpunk 2077 for quite a while. The other aspect to keep in mind is all the money the studio has lost from refunds, on top of all the money it'll need to spend in the ensuing court cases. In the end, CD Projekt will still make a profit from Cyberpunk 2077, especially considering development costs broke even on day-one of sales. However, profits won't be nearly what the studio expected, and it's doubtful Cyberpunk will have the legs that The Witcher 3 did. What this means is less budget to put into the next AAA game, and it may result in CD Projekt putting out a smaller experience, like Thronebreaker, to increase funds a bit.
Past all the monetary issues, The Witcher 4 will also need to be marketed entirely differently. There's a strong feeling that CD Projekt misled fans with trailers and early gameplay, and the studio needs to be careful about that when it starts advertising the next Witcher games. CD Projekt needs to be far more transparent than ever before when marketing the next game, and Cyberpunk's launch will likely change the company's entire marketing scheme moving forward. It could also result in the studio going the path of early demos, or even releasing the next game in early-access. No matter what the development of the next Witcher will be impacted in a big way, and CD Projekt needs to be very careful about its messaging going forward. The company simply can't market its next game the same way. There have also been so many reports of crunch have come out over the year leading up to Cyberpunk, and there need to be assurances that CD Projekt won't use the same practice in the future. Even with all these other issues, there's going to be pressure on CD Projekt to improve its development practices and treat its devs better. With pressure from the public as well as shareholders, nothing short of a complete overhaul will be necessary.
Cyberpunk 2077 is currently available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Versions for PS5 and Xbox Serie X will launch sometime in 2021.
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