CD Projekt RED have released an official apology for the problems surrounding Cyberpunk 2077's disastrous launch in late 2020. In the video, CD Projekt Red's co-founder Marcin Iwiński outlined Cyberpunk's 2021 roadmap, including information regarding when we may be seeing Patch 1.1, as well as the game's free next-gen upgrade.
Marcin Iwiński, co-founder of CD Projekt RED (CDPR) has used a recent video to publicly take responsibility for the gaffe that was Cyberpunk 2077's launch back on December 10. In the video, Iwiński reveals background information about the development and launch of the game, and a timeline for what's to come.
The co-founder doubled down on CDPR's founding principles, renewing his commitment to “honest and direct communication with gamers”. His acknowledgement of wrongdoing on the part of CDPR is not surprising, with the company previously issuing similar messages, albeit, in a less direct way.
"Cyberpunk 2077 did not meet the quality standards we wanted it to meet... this video is me publicly owning up to that... Myself and the board are the final decision makers, and it was our decision to release the game.”
For some, this will be a breath of fresh air, and perhaps produce a gentle sigh of relief. CDPR had, up until now, always been known as THE company for quality and pro-consumer practices. After Cyberpunk, this good-will has been stripped away, so it is a positive sign to see executives personally taking responsibility.
That being said, Marcin Iwiński then went on to excuse the problems at launch with claims that CDPR “underestimated” the difficulty of downgrading the highly ambitious PC edition to a workable console version. This is bizarre – the game began development in 2012 - that's BEFORE last-gen consoles. That's last-last gen consoles!
We are completely confuzzled by this statement: did CDPR really expect us to believe that a game that began development during the PS3 and Xbox 360 lifecycle was not meant for the PS4 and Xbox One? The explanation he gives about in-game "streaming” systems not being up-to-scratch on last gen were interesting, but if they knew of this problem, why was the game not delayed further?
To make matters worse, there's the case of the naughty, naughty reviews. Iwiński claims that he is proud of Cyberpunk 2077 on PC, but that they were fighting for quality on last gen “until the very last moment”. He uses this to explain why reviewers were not given last-gen copies of the game until after December 10. He excuses poor testing with Covid-19, and that would have been a completely reasonable reason... to delay the game again.
Iwiński's heart seems to be in the right place here, but it is hard not to feel a bit awkward about some of the claims he makes. They straddle the line between him trying to be earnest, and him trying to be a run-of-the-mill public relations dude. What is accurate, and what is wishy-washy cr*p?
- READ MORE: Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.07: What to Expect!
So, What Does the Future Look Like for Cyberpunk?
This is where we come back to the most important aspects of this article. What does the future hold for Cyberpunk 2077? Was anything announced during this public apology video? Well, if you've read this far, then you've probably read the first few paragraphs so: YES! Here's the scoop...
Marcin Iwiński acknowledges that not enough has been done in the first three updates back in December. Importantly, he has now revealed Cyberpunk 2077's roadmap for 2021. This was laid out on the following chart:
Most importantly, Patch 1.1 will be dropping within 10 days of writing. That is, by January 24. The next patch will follow in the next couple of weeks. Both of these will be the big patches we have all been waiting for, focused on bug fixes and stability improvements, including the elimination of game crashes.
The roadmap additionally shows us that the first round of free DLC will be dropping sometime in probably the second quarter of 2021, leaning towards the middle of the year. Next-gen updates, and the official launches of the next-gen editions, will not happen until the second half of 2021.
So, there we have it, CDPR have finally issued an apology worth its salt. Marcin Iwiński is obviously not expected to provide an entirely accurate picture of the goings on behind the scenes at CD Projekt Red. However, for a Co-Founder to come out, take personal responsibility, and reinforce the fact that the development team themselves do not deserve the flack they get...
Well, that's an extremely positive step, and it shines out the company that we all believed in before December 10. CDPR was always pro-consumer, and always delivered. Mistakes are made, and these have been pretty massive ones, but apart from the expected corporate-speak, perhaps CDPR can revive its soul from the dead.
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