The great revival of CD Projekt? Cyberpunk 2077 is back on top. Today is the premiere of the expansion

To say that CD Projekt has had a difficult few years would be a significant understatement. Since the game’s release “Cyberpunk 2077” the company was struggling with numerous crises and image problems. Although the game itself initially received great reviews, the terrible optimization of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One versions, bugs and failure to fulfill promises made to players completely changed the narrative around CDPR and caused a snowball effect.

Perhaps the biggest mistake made by the studio management was concealment in front of players about the technical condition of the game on old-generation consoles. Before the premiere, the developers did not show what the gameplay looks like on these platforms, and the reviewers themselves received access only to the best-looking version of the game on PC (which was also not free of bugs and glitches).

First of all, we would like to start by apologizing for not showing you the game on previous-gen consoles before its release and, consequently, not enabling you to make a purchasing decision based on more information. We should pay more attention to making the game work better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

– the creators repented right after the premiere. Many more such apologies and statements published on the now famous yellow graphics appeared in the following weeks and months.

The crisis turned out to be so serious that for some time “Cyberpunk 2077” has been completely withdrawn from the PlayStation Store, which was an unprecedented event. The company also launched a program under which disappointed customers could get a refund for purchasing the game. There were also problems on the stock exchange. While in August 2020, CDPR shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange were valued at over PLN 430, only a year later they dropped to only PLN 80.

The road to redemption. How CD Projekt regains players’ trust

As a result, the title of “Reds” was generally considered a big disappointment, which was both a harsh and unfair assessment. And although at some point it seemed that there was no salvation for the game, the creators did not hide their heads in the sand (and they could, because at this stage “Cyberpunk 2077” – despite the great scandal -).

CD Projekt launched a major operation called “Road to Redemption”, the aim of which was to regain the trust lost in the eyes of players. In the following weeks and months the developers have released a number of patches and updates, which eliminated numerous errorsadded new content to the game and, above all, improved the optimization of the title on (almost) all platforms.

The game was slowly approaching the state in which it should have been available to players from the very beginning. This, in turn, resulted in better and better opinions published, among others, on digital platforms – including Steam. It will premiere on Netflix in September 2022 had a series called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Its success made players look at CD Projekt’s production with greater sympathy again,

I believe that almost every mistake in business can be fixed. However, this requires humility and commitment, which CD Projekt clearly demonstrated in this situation. Of course, it’s a pity that the premiere of “Cyberpunk 2077” turned out this way. Mistakes were made that perhaps could have been avoided. However, CD Projekt quickly started fixing these errors and although this process is ongoing, as of today it seems to me that the situation has been straightened out.

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It was supposed to be the last step on the way to regaining the players’ trust Update 2.0, which introduced a number of new mechanics, including vehicle combat, a rebuilt skill tree and a new police system. The free update premiered on September 21 and turned out to be a huge success.

Cyberpunk 2077 photo: DM

So big that almost three years after the premiere of “Cyberpunk 2077” returned to the top of the Steam bestseller list. The success of CD is also evidenced by Steam Charts statistics, which show that the game is currently one of the most frequently played titles by players.

Cyberpunk 2077 photo: DM

But this is just the beginning. On Tuesday, it premieres“The Specter of Freedom” – the first and only story expansion for the CD Projekt gamein which one of the main roles is played by British actor Idris Elba. . Suffice it to say that its average rating on Metacritic is currently as high as 89 out of 100 points.

CDR shares on the WSE photo: Investing.com

Positive signals are also coming from the stock exchange. During the last year, the company’s shares were listed on the WSE have already increased by over 46 percent to almost PLN 150. And although the company may rather forget about the records from the turn of 2020/2021, the upward trend is clearly noticeable.

The premiere of “The Phantom of Freedom” is on Tuesday. What is this addition about?

“The Phantom of Freedom” takes us to a new and darkest district of Night City. Dogtown was supposed to be an oasis for the rich, but as a result of the armed conflict between the New United States of America (NUSA) and the authorities of the American metropolis, it became a real battlefield.

After the fighting ended, this place was completely cut off from other districts of the city. NCPD policemen are not allowed to enter Dogtown, and the local warlord, Kurt Hansen, and the army of mercenaries he commands rule here.

We get to Dogtown completely by accident. V receives a call from the mysterious netrunner Songbird, who is asking us for urgent help. A plane carrying Rosylind Myers, president of NUSA, was shot down over Night City. The machine makes an emergency landing in Dogtown, and we have to get to Myers before the mercenaries of Kurt Hansen, who is a mortal enemy of the government.

“The Phantom of Freedom” is both a thorough spy thriller and a story about the mistakes of the past, an attempt to correct them and the path to redemption. These topics also resonate to some extent with the situation in which CD Projekt itself found itself after the premiere of “Cyberpunk 2077”. I don’t know if “Redzi” treats this project as a kind of catharsis and a nod to loyal players who, after all, have been a bit disappointed in the past. Perhaps this is so, or perhaps it is my over-interpretation

– we write in our review of the game.