Forbes: Cyberpunk 2077 could have changed the industry and become the most influential game of a generation. It was one year away from becoming the most influential game of a generation.

Cyberpunk 2077, once a fairly popular game that had been on the radar all along, has dropped out of the information field in an instant. There are a few things that explain the lack of commentary and discussion. First of all, it is hardly ever bought. The second reason is that the reputation of the brand has been damaged.

The « fall » of the cult Cyberpunk legend

The main problem with the game was the huge number of bugs and bugs, with which the new part was born. A brand with such fame simply could not afford to let this happen. It’s one thing when there are some little things that haven’t had time to shlef or just haven’t noticed yet. It’s another when a product is released with a claim of readiness with abysmal quality.

The haste has played against the development company and the game itself. The premature release with a desire to surprise fans as soon as possible was a fatal mistake. Interestingly, the creators needed to hold out not for another couple of months, but for at least a year. This suggests that the game was simply not ready.

Reasons for the early release

The premature release was not really a wish to surprise everyone. It was an attempt to placate everyone. The release of Cyberpunk 2077 was repeatedly postponed. Fans of the series were already getting nervous because of the long wait. Moreover the creators invested a lot into the advertising campaign, and this also got on gamers’ nerves.

The desire to give the public what they’ve been waiting for so long, ended up playing a cruel joke with CD Projekt RED. Instead of placating their fans, they threw them an unfinished product, and its quality leaves much to be desired. This is a case where another postponement of the release made sense.

The resurgence of a legend

The fateful release of Cyberpunk 2077 came in December 2020. Discussions about the game literally flooded all over social media. Even despite the general negativity, the product remained on the radar for a long time. The funny thing is that this played into the hands of the creators. The game sold out with lightning speed. The final figure for the first 3 weeks was around 13.7 million copies.

The record number of games sold managed to slightly outweigh all the nuances associated with the reviews. In essence, this is a case where black PR is also PR. Except that this kind of popularity came out sideways elsewhere. The game had every chance of causing a massive change in the games industry. But it failed.

Had it succeeded, today we could have witnessed a completely different atmosphere. Moreover, it could have become the biggest competitor to Grand Theft Auto. It had all the prerequisites for this: launch sales, intense discussion, expansion across all sources of information.

But the chance was missed. The result was a complete shattering of its reputation. Both the developers themselves and the Cyberpunk brand suffered. Perhaps they will still manage to rehabilitate themselves and get back on track. However, there was virtually no chance of repeating such success. One fatal mistake was very costly and it will not be easy to correct.