'Cyberpunk 2077' Developer CD Projekt Red Apologizes and Offers Refunds After Disastrous Launch

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Dec 14, 2020

Following the extremely rocky launch of Cyberpunk 2077 last week, developers CD Projekt Red have been forced to issue an apology, as well as offer refunds, as buyers vent growing frustrations over the game's serious performance issues.

The apology came after Sony began issuing refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 over the weekend — a move rarely seen in the video game industry — as players grew increasingly angry about the game's widespread glitches and bugs, especially on last generation consoles like the PS4 and Xbox One.

Part of the criticism levelled against CD Projekt Red comes as a result of the company's extremely strict press ban when it came to reviews of the Keanu Reeves-starring game. While reviewers were eventually sent the PC version shortly before review embargoes lifted, no console versions of Cyberpunk 2077 were sent out for review, meaning consumers were forced to go into their purchase blind. And as the pretty poor User Score on Metacritic shows, people aren't too happy with the current state of the game.

In the message issued Monday morning, CD Projekt Red apologized to fans "for not showing the game on base last-gen consoles before it premiered and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase."

"We should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One," said the note, which was signed by CD Projekt founder Marcin Iwinski and its entire board of directors.
 
While PC players and next-gen console players seem to be having a somewhat okay technical experience with Cyberpunk 2077, the versions for previous consoles have led to countless memes and widespread criticisms against CD Projekt Red, accusing the developer of releasing a subpar game that's nowhere near finished — even though the game was already delayed multiple times.

Among repeated crashes and immersion-destroying bugs, console players on PS4 and Xbox One have been hit with embarrassingly low frame rates and graphics that look like PS3 at best. A quick look at the Cyberpunk 2077 subreddit also shows very little praise for the game, as rage over Cyberpunk instead boils over as countless memes and embarrassing video captures.

However, CD Projekt Red has already issued a few updates in attempts to improve performance, and the company promises more fixes are on the way.

"Expect more, as we will update frequently whenever new improvements are ready," CD Projekt Red said, adding that two large patches are planned for January and February, and "together, these should fix the most prominent problems are facing on last-gen consoles."

The apology message continues: "They won't make the game on last-gen look like it's running on a high-spec PC or next-gen console, but it will be closer to that experience than it is now,"

It should be noted, however, that CD Projekt Red still hasn't revealed when Cyberpunk 2077 will arrive properly on PS5 and Xbox Series X, with both systems currently only having access to the last-gen console versions through backward compatibility.

For those players wanting refunds, CD Projekt Red is directing players to use the existing refund options on both PSN and Xbox Live for digital copies, and to return physical copies to the store. If players have any issues with obtaining a refunds, they are advised to email helpmerefund@cdprojektred.com.

The refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 will be available until December 21.

UPDATE (12/15, 6 p.m. ET): According to a growing number of gamers, getting actual refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 is proving to be a complicated mess, with many reporting that refunds are being denied at both digital and physical retailers. Obviously, CD Projekt Red does not control how specific refund policies work at various outlet, leading to mass confusion. In fact, it's got so bad that some gamers are now accusing the developer of simply using the promises of refunds as a simple PR tactic

Down below, you can see just a few of many disappointed reactions to Cyberpunk.
 

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