Cyberpunk 2077 Timeline: What Went Wrong? | Screen Rant
As arguably the biggest game launch of the year, and one of the largest of the past decade, Cyberpunk 2077 was poised to be a massive hit. Only, when it released, the game was riddled with bugs, glitches, and performance problems. Ultimately, developer CD Projekt Red issued an apology and refunds, and now digital copies of the game are no longer for sale on the PlayStation Store. So, what went so wrong with a game that was supposed to be so good?
Looking at the timeline of Cyberpunk 2077, it's difficult to determine a single moment when things turned sour. Instead, it's a culmination of several events - all with rippling effects - which resulted in one of the biggest launch catastrophes in recent memory. There were warning signs, like the multiple delays for Cyberpunk 2077, which indicated the game needed more work; or the reports of development crunch, which sparked controversy, and now explains a scramble to get the game out in a timely fashion.
Then, when Cyberpunk 2077 finally released, there were countless bugs and glitches in the game. To make matters worse, the game ran horribly on PS4 and Xbox One - a problem that was apparently known by CD Projekt Red, who hid the fact from early reviewers, Sony, and Microsoft. This latest controversy has caused the company's stock to plummet $1.8 billon in less than a week.
All of these underlying factors have contributed to the problems seen in Cyberpunk 2077. It's certainly reignited the debate over development crunch and how video games are made. It was never just one moment in time that pinpointed when things went wrong for Cyberpunk 2077. Instead, it was a culmination of missteps and wishful thinking to get the game out "on time" that led to its downfall.
Even the developers who worked on the project are frustrated with management at CD Projekt Red, claiming the company repeatedly lied to them about the state of the game. Perhaps the real problem with Cyberpunk 2077 is that it's simply too ambitious. The game tried to accomplish too much, and rather than scale things back, the studio kept pushing.
This overly-ambitious development is really part of the core of what went wrong with Cyberpunk 2077. More delays may have fixed some of the more glaring issues, but after nearly a decade in development, the game was never going to live up to every fan's expectations. Over-promising led to crunch, bugs, and a botched release. Either way, it looks like CD Projekt Red's public image has been seriously damaged, proving that no matter how much effort is put into something, sometimes things just can't be fixed quickly.