We all know how bad Cyberpunk 2077 was at launch. Most of us have stories of what a frustrating and hilarious mess Night City was to stroll around, especially on consoles when it launched in December 2020.
However, one group that didn't find it so funny were investors in the Polish gaming giant, who alleged that the developer had violated securities law by misleading them (and players and journalists) about the state of Cyberpunk 2077 on the PS4 and Xbox One.
The complaint, filed by two legal firms in Californian District Court on December 24, 2020, alleged that statements made by CD Projekt Red made about the game in the runup to its release in December 2020 were "materially false and misleading" because the company did not disclose that it "was virtually unplayable on the current-generation Xbox or Playstation systems due to an enormous number of bugs."
On January 3, California District Judge Fernando M. Olguin signed off on a settlement that would see CDPR pay investors in the company between January and December 2020 a share of a $1.85 million (£1.54 million) fund based on their estimated losses as a result of CDPRs decision to delay the game several and then hide the broken state of PS4 and Xbox One versions.
Cyberpunk 2077 was released and more than eight million gamers found out it was a hot mess. The overwhelmingly negative reaction to what was supposed to be the most anticipated games of the year caused CDPR's stock price to tank. As a result, company officers were legally obligated to sue the developers.
CDPR then set to work trying to fix the game. A feat that has taken the company two years of updates and bug fixes to achieve.
Game devs, not miracle workers
It's safe to say CD Projekt Red has paid its dues regarding Cyberpunk 2077. Few companies would go to the effort they have to right a ship that not only hit the ice burg but caught fire, sank, and then miraculously was catapulted a thousand feet into the air before crashing down on top of an active volcano that swiftly erupted.
Yet somehow, the polish developer managed to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Cyberpunk 2077 has gone from being one other one of the buggiest games in recent memory (though Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have taken the baton and ran with it straight off a cliff, then kept running like an unaware Wile E. Coyote) to mostly positive reviews on Steam, and setting records for the most concurrent players on the platform.
It's a testament to the hard work and dedication of the development team that has spent every day since its disastrous launch doing everything they can to course correct and make the game the best it can be, on every platform it's on.
With the successful launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of Cyberpunk 2077, which were free to anyone who owned the previous console versions, a complete overhaul of some of the game's more contentious elements, a successful Netflix adaptation that reinvigorated interest in the game, and a major expansion starring Idris Elba on the way, it seems that the future is looking bright for Night City.
Though I still wouldn't play the game on a PS4 or Xbox One - CDPR are game developers, not miracle workers.
