The ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Developer Apologized For Bugs And Offered A Refund To Frustrated Gamers

CD Projekt Red, the developer of 'Witcher 3,' issued an apology for the disappointing 'Cyberpunk 2077' launch and offered gamers a refund.

CD Projekt Red, the Polish game giant and the makers of Cyberpunk 2077, offered an apology to frustrated gamers on Monday and offered those unhappy with the game’s release a full refund. Just days after the game was finally released, the makers of Witcher 3 issued a statement addressing the concerns of players, promising more updates to fix issues in the coming weeks and months but also offering a chance for those unhappy with the game to return it and get their money back.

Posting to the Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account, the message detailed ways the company would issue refunds and gave a brief roadmap of updates as the company works well past release date to improve the experience in what was one of the most highly-anticipated games of 2020.

“We would appreciate it if you would give us a chance, but if you are not pleased with the game on your console and don’t want to wait for updates, you can opt to refund your copy,” the statement said.

For many, the problems have come on consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Though the game was ultimately designed for these last-gen consoles, the game seems to perform better on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, though that’s no consolation to those who haven’t bought the consoles that came out last month.

“We should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” the company said, the clearest indication yet that the game had a tortured development cycle. Cyberpunk 2077 promised a giant, open-world experience but development delays frustrated gamers as its release date moved later and later into 2020. The game finally hit consoles and PC last week, but the early days have often been filled with glitches and has disappointed some of the game’s most adamant supporters. CD Projekt Red said more than eight million pre-orders of the game were sold, with nearly 60 percent of those coming from PC gamers. The title is also a boon to GOG.com, the online game retailer that CD Projekt Red also owns.

The game, though buggy and without the polish many have come to expect from CD Projekt Red titles, is far from unplayable in its current form. But Cyberpunk 2077 was a title that cultivated a huge following well before the game was ever released. It was those gamers that defended it despite the numerous delays and other warning signs that it may not be completely ready, and it seems many of those same gamers have been ultimately let down by the title’s actual release. As the note mentioned, a hotfix has already updated some issues with the game, and another bug fix coming within “the next seven days.” Two large patches are also expected in early 2021, one in January and another in February.

We’ve seen many games have less than ideal debuts and turn into very satisfying game experiences, but that takes time and a dedicated base of users to encourage that extra work to get finished. The attention Cyberpunk 2077 drew from the gaming community certainly implies the latter will be there, as long as they don’t give up on the title and ask for their money back first.