Cyberpunk 2077's release was described by PC Gamer's online editor Fraser Brown as among "the highest-profile launch disasters in videogame history", and it really was bad times. After years of white-hot hype, CP2077 arrived with major technical issues and bugs across all platforms, with things so bad on PlayStation that Sony took the unprecedented step of removing the game from its store.
CD Projekt Red, beloved and much-garlanded for its Witcher series, found itself in a new position: pilloried from all sides. Given the length of the game's development cycle, many staff had been heads-down on this for years and, regardless of whether the blowback was proportionate, it must have been devastating to be in the eye of the hurricane.
