PR Fumble: Cyberpunk 2077 Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype
By Isaac Bruce | February 17, 2021
The video game industry is a venerable hype machine, it being one the most lucrative forms of entertainment PERIOD. The push for bigger, more impressive video game experiences are ever-present to gain the interest of a downright salivating audience.
Who can blame gamers when for the better part of half-a-decade they have been treated to the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5 (THE single best selling entertainment product EVER) and its grand heists? Games keep growing in size, scope and innovation for which both publisher and developer must meet expectations.
So what happens when a small organization must balance the lofty expectations of an overly eager audience and deliver the most hyped video game release in half-a-decade? As Youtuber “Crowbcat” states: “Overpromise, sell, underdeliver.” This monolith of a release, this game that was meant to blow expectations out of the door...was Cyberpunk 2077...And boy...did it underdeliver.
From its launch date on December 10th of last year, Cyberpunk 2077 was marred with a more than lukewarm experience on eighth generation systems: Bugs and glitches were rampant; the game frequently crashed on all platforms it was released on; and features that were promised were notably absent.
CDPR had a crisis on their hands, the game they had spent extensive money on marketing, was turning into a nightmare scenario for the company. And while it is so that a good game appears to lie beneath all of the hooplah and some gamers allowed their expectations to get ahead of what was realistically expected, CDPR is no victim.
In what will remain a textbook definition of poor publicity and ethics for a video game company, CDPR’s handling of the game’s press releases pre-launch up until the game’s launch were outright bulldog-ish: Barring PS4 and XBOX ONE gameplay footage from being released pre-launch so no one would know how poor Cyberpunk 2077 handled on those consoles; Insisting that refunds would need to be handled by Sony and Microsoft without providing proper heads-up or establishing their own refund channels (emboldening Sony to remove the PS4 version of Cyberpunk 2077 from its digital store); its rushed-to-market release; CDPR insisting that their staff would not be overworked to release the game on time...Then delaying the game FOUR times, crunching employee’s and adding more crunch by “fixing” Cyberpunk 2077; and who can forget the infamous 48-minute teaser showcasing many features and scenarios that ultimately did not make it into the game (It was a demo however).
A little over two months after Cyberpunk 2077’s release, CDPR has since apologized for the mishap, vowing to fix the game. However, for many players, the damage done was severe enough to tarnish CDPR’s reputation permanently. Though Cyberpunk 2077 may have sold like hot cakes, the game is still in a relatively unstable state, its source code has been stolen and sold, refunds are ever-present, and CDPR has faced lawsuits for false advertising.
CDPR seems and their handling of Cyberpunk 2077 is showing itself a publicity fumble.
SMALL BIO:
I am a CSUN Journalism student studying an emphasis in Public Relations. I love gaming, you could swear I had my thumbs wrapped around analog sticks right out of the womb. Looking to get into the video game industry via Public Relations!