by theygamesA key Cyberpunk 2077 developer has expressed thanks to the community after the success of Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, adding that the team at CD Projekt Red has shown that it’s possible to change perception and win back trust after a rocky launch.
Cyberpunk 2077 quest director at CD Projekt Red Paweł Sasko talks about the RPG game’s resurgence, his own experiences leading up to working at CDPR, and a whole lot more in a new interview with ‘TheNeonArcade.’
Sasko makes mention of how Cyberpunk came back from the brink in 2020, and takes the opportunity to thank the community of players for both supporting the team at CDPR, and coming back to give Phantom Liberty a fair shake. PCGamesN has transcribed and condensed some of Sasko’s words for clarity.
“Look at the reception of Cyberpunk right now, how it has turned,” Sasko says. “Look at the reviews, look at the videos, the discourse around the game. The fact that you guys come back to the game, play it again and have fun.
“I have incredible gratitude. After the release of Cyberpunk, it was tough, it was heartbreaking but we kept going.”
The revival of Cyberpunk is no secret, as after an incredibly rocky launch beset with technical issues across all platforms in 2020, it took the team years of planning and updates to win back plenty of players. My own Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty review was glowing, in fact, after I bounced off the game when it came to PC because it all felt, well, not polished enough.
Sasko goes on to talk about how fans being “reasonable” while providing honest critical feedback was incredibly valuable. “That really kept us going. It reached a point where we can be proud of this.
“I’m so glad that we kept going, fuelled by the passion of a fraction of the community at the beginning, and then slowly we gained more and more throughout the patches.”
Between the release on new platforms, crossovers with Netflix’s Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime, and everything else that led to the launch of update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 has gone through a lot of changes. A three-year redemptive arc.
This isn’t lost on Sasko either, who recognizes that CD Projekt Red has put the work in over those three years, noting that it isn’t just his team that has shown you can turn around the perception of a game if you listen to the community and get to work.
“It’s also not even [just] for us, but also for other devs. It’s a sign of ‘yeah you can do it,’ like the Halo games and No Man’s Sky. They’ve shown that it’s possible to do it.
“In a way, if you fail the only thing that matters is how you’ll be remembered afterwards. Will you just get up and keep going? We kept going, and we managed to make it and I’m honestly so proud of this team and community.”
While running around Phantom Liberty’s improved Night City you’ll want to take a look at the best Cyberpunk 2077 mods and our breakdown of different Cyberpunk 2077 builds, both of which will overhaul your experience.
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