When Cyberpunk 2077 originally launched back in December 2020, it was a debacle the likes of which we hardly see in the game industry. The game was hyped to an incredibly degree, but the version that arrived on day-one was plagued with bugs and offered nowhere near what was promised.
The launch situation was so bad that Cyberpunk 2077 was pulled from digital storefronts and platform-holders were offering players refunds no questions asked. It was an unbelievable blemish on CD Projekt Red, but rather than letting the game stay a disaster, the team got right back to work fixing everything and anything they could.
While it took a considerable amount of time, CD Projekt Red ended up completely turning around Cyberpunk 2077 and then some. Bugs were squashed, glitches were fixed, mechanics were greatly improved and so-on. Slowly but surely, the game ended up not just meeting its pre-launch promise, but greatly surpassing it.
In an interview with the Mirror, CD Project Red’s senior VP of technology Charles Tremblay took a moment to reflect on the game’s original launch. While it’s no doubt a painful memory, Tremblay also thinks the situation was a blessing in disguise, as it led to a much better game than originally envisioned.
“At the end side, if you think about it, if the success of the game would have been what we originally expected, would it be the same game that we’re playing today? I don’t think so. Which is weird when you think about it because of all the problems that we had, but then basically we ended up pushing so much energy in this game and I think now it’s a much, much better game that it would not have probably been otherwise, so I’m pretty happy about the result. I think this game will pass the test of time.”
[CD Project Red’s senior VP of technology Charles Tremblay]
Nintendo fans were the luckiest of all, as they got to avoid the whole messy launch situation with Cyberpunk 2077. We can now play the game as it was originally intended thanks to the recent release of Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on Switch 2. Not only does the Switch 2 version give Nintendo fans the full-fat experience, it also adds in exclusive features like motion controls, touchscreen elements, Joy-Con 2 mouse mode and more.
