The management at CD Projekt Red has answered a number of questions about console versions of Cyberpunk 2077, which provides some insight into why it works poorly on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
In a conference call on Monday, December 14, co-CEO Adam Kiciński acknowledged that despite strong sales and feedback on PC, Stadia and users on next-gen consoles, feedback from those on older devices was “well below our expectations.”
Four members of the management team were then faced with questions from shareholders, mostly focused on the current issues with the last generation console SKU, as well as other aspects of the game’s development.
Many shareholders asked how the negative feedback at launch and the need to troubleshoot the console edition is affecting plans for DLC, multiplayer and The Witcher 4, but management did not comment at this point.
A caller asked for clarification on the recent report that CD Projekt Red had changed its bonus structure in light of bad reviews, but the company declined to comment on this too.
No questions were asked about the presence of epileptic triggers or the studio enforcing mandatory crunch leading up to launch – something that still didn’t prevent a further delay in the game.
“We were updating the game on the last generation of consoles to the very last minute, and we thought we would make it in time”
Marcin Iwiński, CD Projekt Red
Since Cyberpunk’s launch last Thursday, much of the discourse has focused on the bugs, glitches, and poor performance on last-generation consoles.
Review scores are also affected: the initial rating of the PC version from 91 on Metacritic has now dropped to 89, and the early console scores significantly lower. At the time of writing, the PlayStation version has a Metacritic rating of 52 based on seven reviews, while Xbox is at 55 based on five reviews.
Cyberpunk 2077 was originally going to be released in April, before being delayed to September, then November, and finally December 10. While Michał Nowakowski of CD Projekt Red, the board member responsible for the publication, denies there was any external or internal pressure for that date, several members of management acknowledged that the studio was mainly focused on the PC edition and how well the game runs on next-gen consoles.
“After three delays, we as the Management Board were too focused on releasing the game,” said Kiciński. “We underestimated the scale and complexity of the problems, ignoring the signs that more time was needed to refine the game on the base consoles of the last generation. It was the wrong approach and went against our corporate philosophy. we mainly see the game on PCs. “
Earlier this week, the company apologized for only showing the game on high-end machines. When later asked why, co-CEO Marcin Iwiński said, “The reason is that we were updating the game on the last generation of consoles to the very last minute, and we thought we would make it in time.
Unfortunately, this resulted in it being given to reviewers just a day before release, which was certainly too late and the media didn’t get a chance to judge it properly. That wasn’t the intention; we were just fixing the game moment. “
CD Projekt Red admitted that it was ‘too focused on releasing the game’ to recognize how many problems were encountered playing on last-generation consoles
A shareholder asked if the game’s development could have benefited from more staff, to which Nowakowski replied, “It’s really not about the number of people.”
He continued, “It’s not like you would – in the last month – help about 200 people. So the answer is no; this has nothing to do with the fact that we have 300 or 500 more people in the fight and things would be different happened. “
“In terms of the certification process and the third parties – this is definitely on our side”
Michał Nowakowski, CD Projekt Red
Kiciński added that the COVID-19 pandemic “did not help” the QA process. Internal testers were able to test the game from home using CD Projekt Red devices, but external testers could not. Still, he said he “wouldn’t point to it as a major source of trouble.”
Nowakowski also addressed shareholder misconceptions that the studio could have dropped the PS4 and Xbox One versions and only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S had released. He reiterated that the full next-gen versions of the game are separate SKUs and won’t be released until next year.
“It’s not like we could have decided at any point recently to ‘flip the switch’ and change the old-generation version to the next-gen version and only release on the next-gens,” he said. “There is no native next-gen release. The game runs on next-gens and takes advantage of how next-gens perform, but it’s not like we had a next-gen version in our hands and decided to put it on the shelf. to keep. . “
Management were also asked if they believed Cyberpunk’s problems on consoles had flaws in the certification process at platform holders Microsoft and Sony – something Microsoft has since promised to improve following reports of epiletic triggers in the game.
But Nowakowski said the fault lies with CD Projekt Red.
“As for the certification process and the third parties – this is absolutely on our side,” he said. “I can only assume that they were confident that we would sort things out on release, and clearly that didn’t coincide as we planned.”
He also disputed claims that the game will not play on last-generation devices, adding, “It’s not like the game won’t start … I fully understand that the experience is far from satisfying for many people – and we acknowledge that – but ‘unplayable’ sounds like it won’t start at all, which it doesn’t. ”
He acknowledged that the console versions are faltering compared to the PC editions, but adds, “We’ve said this before – you can’t expect PC-like or next-gen-like performance on the last generation, and we are. neither. claim that. “
The studio reiterated that its priority is to fix Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 and Xbox One, with the first improvements already released and more coming soon. These will be followed by major patches in January and February.
A shareholder asked if the last-generation price would be lowered after the February patch, to which Nowakowski said there are no plans.
When asked if the development of these patches affected CD Projekt Red’s claim that Cyberpunk 2077 was already profitable, Chief Financial Officer Piotr Nielubowicz said, “The cost of patching the game is irrelevant compared to what we already know. have issued. “
Kiciński asked whether this will affect the number of people in other projects, including the next Witcher game, saying things are “normal outside of the Cyberpunk teams,” who would be working on patches at this point anyway.
“This will probably take a little more time, but of course we are also branching out and working on future projects,” he said. “We’re also planning vacations; people are tired and – regardless of the situation and regardless of the patches, we won’t just keep working like before; our people need a little rest. We will have a strong team working on patches until at least February. . “
Elsewhere in the call, he added, “We really hope that our efforts will enable us to rebuild the trust we have lost.”