CD Projekt Red Employees Angry at Management Over Cyberpunk 2077 Launch
CD Projekt Red staff are angry at management regarding the development and release of Cyberpunk 2077. Staffers are voicing their anger at how they've been treated and the potential damage Cyberpunk 2077's troubled release may do to the company's reputation.
The long-awaited RPG officially released on December 10, after multiple delays. Since then, the game has been plagued with numerous bugs, particularly with base models of the PS4 and Xbox One. A Cyberpunk 2077 player created a bug trailer showcasing some humorous situations, which has since gone viral, though there are game-breaking issues too.
Bloomberg is reporting that the studio has been met with frustrated employees about Cyberpunk 2077's current state in a recent video conference meeting. CD Projekt management was berated by staff members over potentially jeopardizing the company's own reputation, unrealistic deadlines, and the extensive crunch periods to get the title out as soon as possible. Other staff pointed out the hypocrisy of exploiting employees building a game involving corporations exploiting people. The studio had mandated six-day workweeks since September, despite claims of the game being "complete and playable" back in January. CEO Adam Kicinski stated Cyberpunk's crunch wasn't that bad around the same time, a controversial comment that he apologized for soon after.
The situation of Cyberpunk 2077 appears to be continually devolving. Sony pulled the game from its storefront and made a rare exception to its return policy allowing dissatisfied players to get their money back. Now, Xbox has also joined in on dishing out refunds for digital versions of the game, with Best Buy and even CD Projekt Red offering full refunds to those who purchased a physical copy. The developer, valued at $11.7 billion in August, had been the highest-valued gaming company in Europe. The Poland-based company has now seen its stock plummet over 40 percent in value due to the widespread refunds.
While CD Projekt Red clearly has their work cut out for them fixing everything, the game's PC version has managed to garner some high praise. The PC reviews for Cyberpunk 2077 are largely positive, with many crediting Night City being a rich, detailed world with fully developed NPCs. However, there's a big disparity between the title's first impressions versus what fans experienced on consoles. Many non-PC gamers may end up electing to wait for the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions coming in 2021. Until then, or if players have somehow already beaten it, there are other great RPGs to play to scratch that itch.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.
Source: Bloomberg (via VG24/7)
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