A reasonable explanation for everything that went wrong?

+
Recently there was a leak about the biggest problems presented in Cyberpunk 2077 at its launch and that to this day we still see reflections.
My opinion: if true, the situation is very serious.
 
The biggest problem was not having a clear idea on what to present.

The people involved in World Building were on track but team behind main quest wasn't. Lots of cuts, stories not making proper use of the city's verticality, late introduction of Keanu as Silverhand and cutting down the story.
It became a mashup of ideas rather than a collective effort like Witcher 3.

Witcher 3 had a smaller team but everyone had an idea of the end product/experience they wanted to provide.
 
Its a pretty interesting video and something i dident think about. If you QA is shit its pretty clear it will affect the end product. It perhaps would have made the game run and work better but thats not my only issue with cp2077 so im not sure i would have liked it more even if it was bugfree.
 
Answering the question in the title - no, because the issues of Cyberpunk 2077 are not limited to bugs only, but rather overall messy game design.

Covid 19.
Covid 19?
A pandemic that started in March 2020?
Just about 1,5 month before original CP77 release date of 16th of April 2020?
How+About+No.jpg
 
not sure how that works, was covid a massive problem in 2018,2019 and 2020? or is Covid just now our blame all boogeyman?

You know the time frame when they were developing the game and should of been able to address all the bugs before release
Maybe I misunderstood, but isn't the question: "A REASONABLE EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING THAT WENT WRONG?"...With the launch of Cyberpunk 2077? The vid in the OP is called, "What Made Cyberpunk 2077 Fail", after all.
 
Last edited:
Maybe I misunderstood, but isn't the question: "A REASONABLE EXPLANATION FOR EVERYTHING THAT WENT WRONG?"...With the launch of Cyberpunk 2077? The vid in the OP is called, "What Made Cyberpunk 2077 Fail", after all.

Not exactly, it's not asking for a reasonable explanation, it's asking if the video is a reasonable explanation.

COVID-19 got into Poland in January 2020, first lockdown measures were put in place on March 10. A day before it was even declared a pandemic. By then, the majority of the game was surely completed. It can't all be blamed on COVID-19

Now, that's not me saying COVID-19 didn't play a role. It most assuredly did. The game was released 9 months later and there is absolutely no doubt that it complicated things. Going from an office environment to a sudden change to work from home almost overnight has tremendous effects on workflow and there is an adjustment period but it can't be all blamed on that.

As for the OP, we'll never know. We just won't because it just cannot be broken down to a simple explanation for it all. Most likely it's an amalgamation of many different factors. If there is any truth to the video, yeah, absolutely it played a role but it most likely isn't the only reason. Poor management decisions, COVID-19, poor QA, biting off more than they could handle, too ambitious, reaching the limit of the game's budget etc. It's most likely a mix of all that lead to this situation.

People have a tendency to try to find the most simple of explanations when there isn't one. Complicated projects such as making a huge game like CP2077 have a million things that can go wrong. It can't be attributed to just one thing because it's never just one thing.

At least CDPR didn't abandon the game and they have massively improved it since launch. Only time will tell what their plans for the game are going forward.
 
People have a tendency to try to find the most simple of explanations when there isn't one. Complicated projects such as making a huge game like CP2077 have a million things that can go wrong. It can't be attributed to just one thing because it's never just one thing.

At least CDPR didn't abandon the game and they have massively improved it since launch. Only time will tell what their plans for the game are going forward.
Yea this probably, we all seek easy aswers too hard and complicated questions. Its very rare thats its as easy as one problem. Sadly i kinda think it was a alot of things contributing too the game we got, Covid was probably one of the issues that popped up. But a bad QA would just add issue too it. I kinda think it was a classic "development hell snowball" the longer they kept trying too fix things the more issues popped up. All of a sudden it was end of november and they just could not delay any more.
 
Not exactly, it's not asking for a reasonable explanation, it's asking if the video is a reasonable explanation.
Then I misunderstood. I looked at the title of this thread and the name of the vid in the OP, which I only saw a part of, that I thought that they asked why Cyberpunk launched the way it did. I didn't watch the entire vid because in the beginning they showed issues that have long since been mended.

So, was of the assumption that they still play on the first versions of the game where those issues are still present.

I disagree with the vid suggesting Cyberpunk 2077 being a failure because, CDPR said that they were very satisfied with Cyberpunk's current state back in 1.3, some saying that cyberpunk 2077 serves as a "Money-printer" for CDPR till this day, and to my logical sense, no game dev-team would ever bother with an expansion for a failed IP.

So no, without having watched it entirely, don't think the vid can serve as a "reasonable explanation".

Poor management decisions, COVID-19, poor QA, biting off more than they could handle, too ambitious, reaching the limit of the game's budget etc. It's most likely a mix of all that lead to this situation.
People have a tendency to try to find the most simple of explanations when there isn't one. Complicated projects such as making a huge game like CP2077 have a million things that can go wrong. It can't be attributed to just one thing because it's never just one thing.
This is so true. However, am of the opinion that the troublesome launch of Cyberpunk 2077, was caused by Covid and Covid alone.

If you would ask me as to the reasoning behind, poor management decisions, (which I disagree with, with all due respect), Covid 19, poor QA, biting off more than they could chew, too ambitious, reaching the limit of the game's budget, I would mention 1 reason; Covid 19.

The moment Covid hit, that is to say the first governmental order pronounced to work from home among others, development of any ongoing project at the time, was not so much delayed, but came to a full stop, at least in my country. That lasted for a couple of days. All offices were closed, construction sites stopped working, nonessential stores closed.

It is then that any management needs to take drastic measures to make sure the project can proceed. That means management needs to improvise. Those decisions can be very controversial. In Cyberpunk's case, they turned up very good decisions, as the game ended up successful and most importantly, the team intact. (Hench why I think poor management decisions weren't at play here).

Only when a development team is united, can there be good QA. Since the team was dispersed, QA was pretty much nonexistent. As a team, you can do the most unimaginable and ambitious things, but not on your own. So chances are those projects in the game that explicitly asked for such devs-skills had to wait. Those projects then need to be made inaccessible for the vanilla player.

But since QA was pretty much nonexistent, inaccessibility measures could often be bypassed pretty easily and you could access those jobs/gigs, execute them in a way that was not intended, if you went astray from the book. Was apparent a lot in the first couple of versions. This is what I think bit CDPR in the butt most of the time.

When the development budget is depleted, you have no choice but to launch. The project must now earn money to finance its further development. Only, the project sustained a substantial delay. It was in fact not ready to launch.

So they postponed it, twice, to get it ready to launch. We all know how that went.

Now if you sit down and think about this for as far you found it accurate, and ask how all this came about, I come only to 1 conclusion: Covid 19.
 
Last edited:
Then I misunderstood. I looked at the title of this thread and the name of the vid in the OP, which I only saw a part of, that I thought that they asked why Cyberpunk launched the way it did. I didn't watch the entire vid because in the beginning they showed issues that have long since been mended.

So, was of the assumption that they still play on the first versions of the game where those issues are still present.

I disagree with the vid suggesting Cyberpunk 2077 being a failure because, CDPR said that they were very satisfied with Cyberpunk's current state back in 1.3, some saying that cyberpunk 2077 serves as a "Money-printer" for CDPR till this day, and to my logical sense, no game dev-team would ever bother with an expansion for a failed IP.

So no, without having watched it entirely, don't think the vid can serve as a "reasonable explanation".

I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that the video implies CP2077 is a failure. It doesn't imply this at all.

What it does is refer to the launch as a failure. Because it was absolutely a horrible launch, not a complete failure but horrible? It was. Commercially, an absolute success. It sold exceptionally well and it's one of the main reason we're getting more content. It also benefited from a very aggressive marketing campaign which I suspect is one of the main reasons behind the game's commercial success. Not the only one mind you, but one of the main reasons.

That's an entirely different subject though.


This is so true. However, am of the opinion that the troublesome launch of Cyberpunk 2077, was caused by Covid and Covid alone.

If you would ask me as to the reasoning behind, poor management decisions, (which I disagree with, with all due respect), Covid 19, poor QA, biting off more than they could chew, too ambitious, reaching the limit of the game's budget, I would mention 1 reason; Covid 19.

The moment Covid hit, that is to say the first governmental order pronounced to work from home among others, development of any ongoing project at the time, was not so much delayed, but came to a full stop, at least in my country. That lasted for a couple of days. All offices were closed, construction sites stopped working, nonessential stores closed.

It is then that any management needs to take drastic measures to make sure the project can proceed. That means management needs to improvise. Those decisions can be very controversial. In Cyberpunk's case, they turned up very good decisions, as the game ended up successful and most importantly, the team intact. (Hench why I think poor management decisions weren't at play here).

Only when a development team is united, can there be good QA. Since the team was dispersed, QA was pretty much nonexistent. As a team, you can do the most unimaginable and ambitious things, but not on your own. So chances are those projects in the game that explicitly asked for such devs-skills had to wait. Those projects then need to be made inaccessible for the vanilla player.

But since QA was pretty much nonexistent, inaccessibility measures could often be bypassed pretty easily and you could access those jobs/gigs, execute them in a way that was not intended, if you went astray from the book. Was apparent a lot in the first couple of versions. This is what I think bit CDPR in the butt most of the time.

When the development budget is depleted, you have no choice but to launch. The project must now earn money to finance its further development. Only, the project sustained a substantial delay. It was in fact not ready to launch.

So they postponed it, twice, to get it ready to launch. We all know how that went.

Now if you sit down and think about this for as far you found it accurate, and ask how all this came about, I come only to 1 conclusion: Covid 19.

You're ignoring a lot of evidence to come to your conclusion.

What about the other studios who spent just as much time developing during the pandemic who released their games just fine? What of those who spent most of the pandemic releasing their game during the pandemic and still managed a good, solid release?

Also, while I generally disagree with @Czembro's stance on things, he did bring up an important counter-argument to you. What of the original release date? April 16th 2020. One of the two delays you attribute to COVID-19 can't even be attributed to COVID-19. A month and a half before release, a game is pretty much complete but it wasn't even near complete by the second delay 7 months later, long after CDPR started remote work.

There is more but frankly, I think you've set your sights on COVID-19 being the culprit and nothing will change your mind. I won't bother.

Again, COVID-19 absolutely played a role in why the game launched in the state it was in, but tech companies were in a uniquely favorable position to adapt. Most did. Heck, government, which is a notoriously slow beast to change and adapt had adapted within 2-5 months across most of the world.

There is no one reason for all of it. There were obvious issues that caused the first delay that can't be attributed to COVID-19 at all. Again, in any major, complex, project of any kind, there is never only one reason for it's failure. It's always multiple different issues compounding and leading to failure.

Note that I do not think CP2077 is a failure as a whole, I love the game in fact but it's launch was abysmal.

Anyway, let's not turn this into an argument. I'll go with agree to disagree.
 
Last edited:
When the development budget is depleted, you have no choice but to launch. The project must now earn money to finance its further development. Only, the project sustained a substantial delay. It was in fact not ready to launch.
Frankly, even if it had been necessary to ask investors to "inject" more money to a further delay the game and correct everything necessary, it was clearly "mission impossible". Not sure in other countries, but in France, the Covid has plunged the economy into its worst recession since the Second World War...
So one thing that it's sure (for me), the Covid made everything worse and above all, the delay not long enough (maybe without the Covid, we would have the game in "1.3 state" at release in december).
 
Frankly, even if it had been necessary to ask investors to "inject" more money to a further delay the game and correct everything necessary, it was clearly "mission impossible". Not sure in other countries, but in France, the Covid has plunged the economy into its worst recession since the Second World War...
So one thing that it's sure (for me), the Covid made everything worse and above all, the delay not long enough (maybe without the Covid, we would have the game in "1.3 state" at release in december).

You are probably right on everything here.

Getting a cash injection as a public company is no simple matter, you can't just ask for it and arranging for a cash infusion to manage release of a product is.... bad. The first delay was inevitable, it's completely unrelated to COVID-19. The interrupted workflow from it and the subsequent difficulties in adapting to a new working situation most likely is one of the leading reasons behind the second delay and the state of game at release.

Had it not been for COVID-19, the game would assuredly have launched in a better state. Probably something resembling 1.3, I agree, but as much as 1.3 was a major step in a good direction, there was still a lot of place for and needing improvement.
 
I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that the video implies CP2077 is a failure. It doesn't imply this at all.
"What Made Cyberpunk 2077 Fail", tells me that the Vid's author has the intention to start a conversation about the fact that Cyberpunk 2077 failed. Which it didn't. There goes the vid's credibility.
You're ignoring a lot of evidence to come to your conclusion.
Strange. I tried to be as constructive as I could, but if you say so...
What about the other studios who spent just as much time developing during the pandemic who released their games just fine? What of those who spent most of the pandemic releasing their game during the pandemic and still managed a good, solid release?
What studios? You mean SE with FF7R, or CC, with RE3R? Ask the speed-running community. They'll tell you how beautifully those games may look from the outside, but what kind of a pandemoniac mess they are from the inside. That's due to Covid. FF7R in particular was rushed with a vengeance to launch the game on time. And they succeeded. Well, good for them. None of the 2 games offered me as much entertainment as Cyberpunk 2077.

I've seen... now maybe for the 10th time Cyberpunk 2077 being compared with GTA 5. Cyberpunk ain't no GTA 5. Cyberpunk 2077 is a videogame the likes other gamedevs could never hope their IPs ever even comes lightyears close.

No game out there can match it. Not RE3R, not FF7R, and not GTA 5. No matter how many times they try. Such is Cyberpunk 2077's exclusivity. Its internals are so vast, even the Reds themselves are more times than not experiencing difficulties handling it. One of them stated so himself.

Also, while I generally disagree with @Czembro's stance on things, he did bring up an important counter-argument to you. What of the original release date? April 16th 2020.
What about it? I never followed the developments of Cyberpunk. I pre-purchased it 5 days before launch, and played it for the very first time on the 10th December 2020, the day it became available for download on Steam.
One of the two delays you attribute to COVID-19 can't even be attributed to COVID-19. A month and a half before release, a game is pretty much complete but it wasn't even near complete by the second delay 7 months later, long after CDPR started remote work.
CDPR said the 2 delays was to give the devs more time to get the game ready. When I played the game for the first time, it quickly became apparent that the game was not entirely completed. That counted for a lot of gigs. You could undergo them, as long you played by the book. The moment you went astray, chances were that gig could soft-lock.

Wondering as to how come development was delayed so, only Covid came to mind.

Anyway, let's not turn this into an argument. I'll go with agree to disagree.
You are the one that started this. My post wasn't even aimed at you. I found this conversation with you highly unpleasant, all the more because it started with me just answering a question that was asked. I've seen you communicating with another poster here, and that conversation wasn't any better.

As you undoubtedly have noticed, we do NOT understand each other. Therefor I would suggest that you select my account, and select "Ignore". I'll do that too. That's what it's for.

Have fun on the forums and enjoy your game.
 
You are the one that started this. My post wasn't even aimed at you. I found this conversation with you highly unpleasant, all the more because it started with me just answering a question that was asked. I've seen you communicating with another poster here, and that conversation wasn't any better.

So someone bringing opposing point to you is unpleasant.

Alright.

As you undoubtedly have noticed, we do NOT understand each other. Therefor I would suggest that you select my account, and select "Ignore". I'll do that too. That's what it's for.

Have fun on the forums and enjoy your game.

Not gonna ignore you over so little. You're genuinely getting offended over... very little.

But, hey, you do you. Have fun.
 
Then I misunderstood. I looked at the title of this thread and the name of the vid in the OP, which I only saw a part of, that I thought that they asked why Cyberpunk launched the way it did. I didn't watch the entire vid because in the beginning they showed issues that have long since been mended.

So, was of the assumption that they still play on the first versions of the game where those issues are still present.

I disagree with the vid suggesting Cyberpunk 2077 being a failure because, CDPR said that they were very satisfied with Cyberpunk's current state back in 1.3, some saying that cyberpunk 2077 serves as a "Money-printer" for CDPR till this day, and to my logical sense, no game dev-team would ever bother with an expansion for a failed IP.

So no, without having watched it entirely, don't think the vid can serve as a "reasonable explanation".


This is so true. However, am of the opinion that the troublesome launch of Cyberpunk 2077, was caused by Covid and Covid alone.

If you would ask me as to the reasoning behind, poor management decisions, (which I disagree with, with all due respect), Covid 19, poor QA, biting off more than they could chew, too ambitious, reaching the limit of the game's budget, I would mention 1 reason; Covid 19.

The moment Covid hit, that is to say the first governmental order pronounced to work from home among others, development of any ongoing project at the time, was not so much delayed, but came to a full stop, at least in my country. That lasted for a couple of days. All offices were closed, construction sites stopped working, nonessential stores closed.

It is then that any management needs to take drastic measures to make sure the project can proceed. That means management needs to improvise. Those decisions can be very controversial. In Cyberpunk's case, they turned up very good decisions, as the game ended up successful and most importantly, the team intact. (Hench why I think poor management decisions weren't at play here).
So, the video isent about CDPRs failure of making the game. Its about the company they hired too do QA that lied and failed CDPR with there work. He says hes been contacted by a insider in the company they hired (some Bulgarian QA testing company) and he mailed over some internal documents too prove that he is genuine. And they apperantly hade bad practices while doing QA and lied about how many people were working on it. End result was alot of smaller visual glitches and non critical bugs getting reported too CDPR witch kinda wasted time (they set a quota on how many bugs every worker hade too report in a day -.-). The clips are just old too show the issues at launch.

True or not that would be pretty hard too work with, but like i said before i think alot of issues caused this not just 1. Bad QA, Covid, Bad management, way too early first release date (they said it was playable in mars when first delay happend) Budget issues were probably a part of it too, they really could not delay any more.. I think they have learned tho since they have restructured quite hard and clammed up too much almost. Rather that then talking too much tho, hopefully it will be better in the future since these problems happend.

It seems real but its impossible too know since i dont have the documents and have not talked too this insider, but it might be totally fake too. In any case it kinda explains some issues if its true.
Post automatically merged:


Hes released a update. Seems to be going trough all media.
 
Last edited:
However, am of the opinion that the troublesome launch of Cyberpunk 2077, was caused by Covid and Covid alone.

whatever makes people sleep better...

so covid is the reason for years of overpromotion? The reason why RedEngine is not able to create their visions? The reason old gen hardware is way to low to handle the assets? The reason why the management made horrible decisions? The reason why the devs warnings of a rushed release were just ignored by the big bosses? Etc. etc?

seriously covid is just a thankful excuse to feel better. but it’s not the reason for the release disaster and everything around it...
 
so covid is the reason for years of overpromotion? The reason why RedEngine is not able to create their visions? The reason old gen hardware is way to low to handle the assets? The reason why the management made horrible decisions? The reason why the devs warnings of a rushed release were just ignored by the big bosses? Etc. etc?
The launch of Cyberpunk is something of the past. I don't dwell in the past. I always look to the future. I saw the title of this thread, together with the vid's name in the OP, and assumed they meant Cyberpunk's launch.

I blame all that to Covid. That was, is, and will always stay my opinion. Whether people like it or not.

The experience of the first version felt that the game was still in need of work. Which is no problem, because never does development stop with launch. It continues. Only now with much needed revenue. The game was in perfect working order, for the PC at least. Management came with a new workplan, and the devs carried it out.

They overcame all hardships and made the game highly successful and profitable, despite very hard times.
Managements that make bad decisions for 8 years straight through hard times, do not end up with successful IPs.
 
Top Bottom