Cyberpunk 2077 was expected to be a breathtaking gaming experience, but this was unfortunately not the case for all players and on all platforms when it was released. The developers at CD Projekt simply did not live up to their promise to release the game when it was actually ready, however, since December 2020 they have been working hard on their redemption and it must be admitted that they are doing well. Along with lots and lots of fixes, updates and new content, the big story DLC Phantom Liberty is supposed to help improve the reputation, which promises much more than the next part of the Night City story. The game has come a long way so far, but its release status still leaves many players in the stomach. And as it turns out, the reaction of the players is not ignored by the vice president of the company and director of the PR department Michał Platkow-Gilewski, according to whom Cyberpunk did not deserve everything at the time.
Michał Platkow-Gilewski returned to the problematic edition of the game during interview for GamesIndustry.biz magazine, but also focused on the aforementioned upcoming expansion. The Phantom Liberty expansion has a scheduled release date of September 26th, so it’s time for CD Projekt to kickstart their marketing efforts again. Before the release of Cyberpunk, the studio was one of the most trusted and enjoyed great popularity thanks to the famous Witcher series. Cyberpunk 2077 was among the most anticipated titles, the release date was spectacularly revealed by Keanu Reeves himself, and some of the first reviews did not spare enthusiasm. But then the release came and player complaints and a huge amount of screenshots and footage of weird bugs happening in the game began to spread across the internet. The game was even pulled from the PlayStation Store, and CD Projekt issued an apology and set about repairing the damage and reputation.
“We didn’t know what was going on. We knew the game was great.”
“I think Cyberpunk was actually a much better game at launch than it was ultimately received, and even the early reviews were positive. Then it just happened cool not to like him,” lamented Platkow-Gilewski in an interview, for whom, along with other developers, the release and change in community sentiment was a big blow. “We went from heroes to zero really quickly. It was a difficult moment. We didn’t know what was going on. We knew the game was great,” he continued, but added that they were aware of the needs and possibilities of improvement or rework. “It took us a lot of time, but I don’t believe it broke us,” he concluded, adding that they immediately went to work. After all, we can already see its results in the game, and we will be able to see even more about the efforts of the developers through the DLC. It was already presented during Play Days as part of the Summer Game Fest and so far the journalists present have praised it.
Inside CD Projekt
CD Projekt continues to work to restore good relations with the community, which Phantom Liberty should also contribute to. According to Platkow-Gilewski, it should be clear at first glance that it is something big and important, so they approached another well-known actor, which is Idris Elba. DLC in their presentation is not just the addition of paying for skins, but a new comprehensive experience, which players will hopefully appreciate. He also added that it is necessary to realize how other games are doing in CD Projekt. We’ve had quite a few announcements from the studio – new Witchers and a Cyberpunk sequel – but each of these projects are in different stages and are not being worked on simultaneously. In addition, development is also underway in other studies.
He also highlighted the ongoing restructuring of the company, the needs of which they were aware even before the release of Cyberpunk, but that was the turning point. There should be a special team outside the company that deals only with the transformation of the company and its functioning. An important point is, for example, the avoidance of crunching, for which Cyberpunk was also criticized. It certainly sounds promising, not only for the games and players, but also for the employees themselves. So hopefully the Phantom Liberty will prove itself.
2023-06-28 15:29:09
#Projekt #Cyberpunk #deserve #criticism #Vortex
