Unveiling the Staggering Costs of Cyberpunk 2077's Redemption: CD Projekt Red's Pricey Endeavor to Fix the Game

Highlights

CD Projekt Red spent approximately $125.9 million to fix the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, showing a strong commitment to improving the game.

The addition of updates and the successful expansion, Phantom Liberty, significantly enhanced Cyberpunk 2077, attracting former players to reconsider the game. Furthermore, the highly praised Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime played a key role in restoring the public perception of Cyberpunk 2077, resulting in a surge of returning players.

CD Projekt Red has invested approximately $125.9 million to restore the reputation of Cyberpunk 2077 following its disastrous launch in 2020. Despite the immense anticipation surrounding the open world game's release, it fell short of expectations, especially on console platforms.

While the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 experienced relatively fewer issues, the console versions were plagued by significant technical problems. The game's poor performance on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One led to its removal from the PlayStation Store and CD Projekt Red offering refunds. Substantial efforts have been made to repair the company's image and meet fan expectations for Cyberpunk 2077, but these endeavors came at a significant cost.

According to Piotr Nielubowicz, the CFO of CD Projekt Red, a total of $84.3 million was invested in both production and marketing of the Phantom Liberty expansion for Cyberpunk 2077. An additional $40.9 million was allocated for enhancing and updating Cyberpunk 2077 after its release. As IGN highlighted, this brings CD Projekt Red's expenditure on fixing and improving Cyberpunk 2077 to approximately $125.9 million. This significant investment appears to have yielded positive results for the company.

Content has significantly improved since the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. The release of Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.0 and subsequent updates from CD Projekt Red have greatly addressed the game's major issues in the open world RPG genre. The Phantom Liberty expansion has garnered positive reviews and appears to be largely responsible for enticing many former players to give Night City another chance.

The efforts to restore Cyberpunk 2077's reputation extend beyond the realm of video games and the Phantom Liberty expansion. The highly acclaimed Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime also deserves recognition, as it is credited with attracting a higher number of players back to the game last year.

CD Projekt Red's dedication to addressing the issues plaguing Cyberpunk 2077 opens up opportunities for the studio to explore future projects for the franchise. Currently, a live-action adaptation of Cyberpunk is in progress, and plans for a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 are already in motion. However, details about the sequel remain scarce. The developers have revealed that they have yet to decide whether the game will continue in a strictly first-person perspective like its predecessor or opt for a third-person viewpoint instead.

Cyberpunk 2077 can be purchased and played now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

Source: IGN