CD Projekt Red’s ambitious title, Cyberpunk 2077, has now reached new heights of popularity, with over 1 million players per day.
A ‘fool me once’ approach has been used in Cyberpunk 2077, and its new-found popularity either gives it a rare chance at a second impression for redemption or the ability to ‘fool gamers twice.’ After the announcement that Hollywood star Keanu Reeves would be making a return as iconic character Johnny Silverhand, the impressive reviews for Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and the Phantom Liberty DLC just around the corner, the future looks promising for one of the biggest disappointments in 2020, which is saying something.
Cyberpunk 2077 released to the tune of horrendous game-breaking bugs, and just general confusing mechanics that made the title almost unplayable for the previous generation of consoles. This created a rift between CD Projekt Red and its weighty fanbase and, for one of the first times ever, PlayStation dropped the title entirely from its online market (it has since been returned to the store). Even Xbox players were given an opportunity to refund their copies (which has also ended in 2021).
Edgerunners has obtained some critical acclaim since its launch on Netflix, and has even garnered an 8.7 overall score from Metacritic users, out of a sample size of 125 users. With all of the current popularity, and its place as #4 on Steam’s video game best seller list, the window to obtain Cyberpunk 2077 for a discount may be closing rapidly. Steam lists the title at 50% off, The PS Store has it for $24.99 which will end on September 29, and secondary market pricing still has the physical copies readily available for a fraction of a full price title.
The second opportunity Cyberpunk 2077 has been given is a rare one, considering the huge backlash the title has received at launch. But now may be the time for players to join Night City, provided the gameplay has been heavily improved since the 2020 launch. The secondary success the title receives may set a bad precedent for future developed titles, as developer crunch time might push games out early in hopes of a second wind, as PCWorld points out.
Cyberpunk 2077‘s comeback has been meteoric, and while CD Projekt Red’s reputation may suffer due to the glitchy, messy state, the title released in the second coming of the futuristic game shows promise.
