Cyberpunk 2077 has been the talk of the industry for roughly the past year, for good reason: offering massive environments to explore and interact with, a dark future that has its roots firmly pressed into the present-day corporate culture, and the ability to customize everything about your character.
The hype and anticipation have been relentless throughout the entirety of the year, albeit wavering a bit more with every announced delay that was once occurring on T-90 checkpoints, and now has begun to occur even closer to the release date.
CD Projekt Red executives have stated that the product is mostly finished, that it has gone gold, and they’re only touching up a few small sections pertaining to specific consoles.
These same executives have been repeatedly claiming that ‘crunch isn’t as bad as reported’ which directly clashes with multiple reports from the developers themselves: 100-hour workweeks, people falling ill from the constant pressure and incessant deadlines, and it all seems to match with reported conditions from temporary workers from The Witcher 3; the fabled conclusion to a fantastic trilogy that is most known for its capstone.
Now, some users are beginning to draw comparisons to other troubled titles while the stock of CDPR has dropped 25% since the most recent delay.
No Man’s Sky was similarly hyped up, and failed to deliver almost everything that was promised in a convincing manner; it took years of following updates (after the developers took a long hiatus from existing online during the consumer-fury that followed launch) to bring the title to the point where it successfully managed to hit most (if not all) of the advertised features.
Granted, NMS came from Hello Games; a relatively untested and unproven studio.
Cyberpunk 2077 is coming from CD Projekt Red, the studio that has managed to maintain a fantastic level of consumer-friendly monetization; multiple free pieces of content featuring alternate looks and styles, massive expansion packs that have put almost every modern studio to shame, and resolute and in-depth lore that will have you lost for years.
Some are stating that this may be a good time to invest heavily in CDPR, based on their track record alone; others are advising from putting further emotional stock into the hotly anticipated title, lest it falls flat from overworked developers and far too lofty ideals.
Personally, CD Projekt Red’s track record speaks for itself; many studios would give an arm to have the reputation that the Polish studio currently has, and it’s well-earned. We know where we’ll be come April 16, or September 17, actually November 19, no wait December 10.
