skeletonbow: I think it comes down to whether they intend Cyberpunk 2077 to be a one off game to make a buck from, or if they intend for it to be an all time classic game franchise that they wish to build up more and more in the future not only with expansion packs, multiplayer, but also future sequels. In the game there are some potential teasers to be found such as the "Chicago tunnel coming in 2080" which is a train tunnel to Chicago in 3 years time (in game time). While it is not easy to get to the location in the game it is actually possible, and I've been to the tunnel site and it is clear that they intend for it to be a playable area in the future, whether as an expansion content for CP2077 or in a future sequel or whatnot.

I think they have put enough effort into this project as a whole that they want it to be an ongoing franchise that they can produce future games from including spinoffs and other content rather than having made it as a one off game. Starting up entirely new game franchises is an incredibly expensive and risky thing to do at the scale of this game and I don't think any company purposefully goes into such a project with short sighted visions of producing one game and then calling it quits on the entire story universe and franchise.

Having said that, if they want Cyberpunk "the franchise" to have long standing appeal and success to them as a company then they HAVE to fix the bugs in the game and prominent flaws in order to show gamers that they are in fact ultra committed to Cyberpunk the franchise and not just a one off game within the universe.

This means that they have to not only address all of the clear cut bugs in the game and broken visuals and obvious things, but that they need to address the deeper flawed systems in the game such as bad cop AI/pedestrian AI/driving AI, bad user interface, bad crafting and inventory systems that are tedious, slow and clunky etc.

If they put out patches for the game for 6-12 months and fix only some of this stuff and leave the rest in a terrible state, then that would indicate to me that it is intended as a one-off that they do not plan to return to in the future, or that it was just a profit driven venture that might spawn more profit driven ventures in the future rather than a franchise to be proud of.

My gut tells me that CDPR wanted this to be a long lasting franchise of high quality but that they bit off more than they could chew and had to put it out the door sooner than later to have the least financial damage from it, and then clean it up later. So now they need to clean it up now and show us that they do intend for the franchise to have a future and not be a one off oops.

If they write off Cyberpunk before it is polished off, then what is next for the company? Yeah, there's Witcher 3 RTX and that will be cool likely but it's not a new game and isn't going to generate massive sales or anything, it's just a boost in cashflow from an already existing game. What's next after that? Witcher 4? Then Witcher 5, 6, 7 and 8? There is risk to being a one-franchise pony. All it takes is one really bad game to kill a franchise or a company, so it is natural they want to have a bit more variety by having a few franchises to alternate between over time.

If they turn Cyberepunk into a one-off and leave it in a messy state, nobody's going to trust them with any future game releases they make whether they do a Witcher 4 or anything else.

They put their reputation on the line with this and now they have to do the work and polish the game into what people expected they were going to get, not just apologize for it. Time, money, and manpower are all presumably on their side so it is entirely possible for them to fix this IMHO. I give them the benefit of doubt that they will, but also want to see it actually happen first, and I'll be holding onto my money 100% until the game is in a state that I consider "delivered on promises and expectations". So I wont be buying any expansions, spinoff games or other content until they fix the most egregious and pressing bugs and issues I have with the game.

At the same time I want to end on a positive note, which is to say that I was very impressed with the actual storyline in the game and I've completed it now. No spoilers, but wow. The level of polish the story has compared to the game mechanics etc. are very different and almost feels like 2 different games. I want to see them polish the rest of the game up to the standard of the main storyline and acting, drama etc. present. Then we've got a classic damn game of epicness. It just might take a long time to get there I feel, but time will tell...

WilliamFrost: If they don't fix the game, I probably wouldn't buy another one from them for a long time.

skeletonbow: Yeah, I think if they didn't fix he game a lot of people wont be buying anything from them again. The real question isn't whether they're going to fix it or not I don't think but rather what all specific things are they going to fix and what are they going to leave as-is. We probably wont hear them pre-announce much about that as that amounts to promises, and promises have proven hard to keep.

Game of wait and see.

FTSO: The problem with the "Bethesda model" is it that is a lazy path, they launch a broken shit and modders do the free work, not to mention, this mentality is already conditioned with the consumer base, influenced by YouTuber´s and Game journos, helping to cause that pre ordering, and if the product as a whole is poor, just wait for mods... who cares if we pay for poorly developed franchises.

No wonder they keep trying that online store, people is buying mods, even on PC, and we have the Nexus to seek quality stuff.

mad_crease: Don't think for a moment nexus has your back though. They tried to monetize the mods also. Even to a premium user. They already changed the rules for supporters and throttle their downloads.

TencentInvestor: Only if the company can fix the AI of their management robots first.

skeletonbow: skipped text

This means that they have to not only address all of the clear cut bugs in the game and broken visuals and obvious things, but that they need to address the deeper flawed systems in the game such as bad cop AI/pedestrian AI/driving AI, bad user interface, bad crafting and inventory systems that are tedious, slow and clunky etc.

If they put out patches for the game for 6-12 months and fix only some of this stuff and leave the rest in a terrible state, then that would indicate to me that it is intended as a one-off that they do not plan to return to in the future, or that it was just a profit driven venture that might spawn more profit driven ventures in the future rather than a franchise to be proud of.

My gut tells me that CDPR wanted this to be a long lasting franchise of high quality but that they bit off more than they could chew and had to put it out the door sooner than later to have the least financial damage from it, and then clean it up later. So now they need to clean it up now and show us that they do intend for the franchise to have a future and not be a one off oops.

If they write off Cyberpunk before it is polished off, then what is next for the company? Yeah, there's Witcher 3 RTX and that will be cool likely but it's not a new game and isn't going to generate massive sales or anything, it's just a boost in cashflow from an already existing game. What's next after that? Witcher 4? Then Witcher 5, 6, 7 and 8? There is risk to being a one-franchise pony. All it takes is one really bad game to kill a franchise or a company, so it is natural they want to have a bit more variety by having a few franchises to alternate between over time.

If they turn Cyberepunk into a one-off and leave it in a messy state, nobody's going to trust them with any future game releases they make whether they do a Witcher 4 or anything else.

skipped text

mad_crease: People aren't so bright and they now (much like Bethesda) will rely on pre-orders to give you garbage until they just dry up. I have given up almost all hope of seeing this game become something. Mods are OK, but early mods change so frequently and have caused any manner of flatlines. Though the modding community is brilliant and creative, we shouldn't have to rely on then to give us a working game.

So, what will they fix, probably not much for PC users. I think they'll concentrate on the market for Micro$oft and Play$tation. You'd think that when a PC users GPU costs 2x the entire worth of the toy boxes, there'd be more dedication to make it, and the controls for it, work fluidly on the PC.

midrand: I hope you are right - sheer state of this game and amount of game mechanics dumbed down or removed have made me rather skeptical. It really needs a lot of rework on a lot of fronts other than perhaps storyline (which is subjective anyway, so you will never please everyone). The setting is also not to everyone's liking and is quite specific, so objections to the storyline or how it develops need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Story is good, but to me level of emotional attachment was far less than in Witcher - but it could also be the cyberpunk setting to a degree.

They definitely put in a lot of effort and money - even more mindboggling how the game managed to end the way it did. Perhaps there was some u-turn in design decisions that resulted in this disaster.

I just also hope that the devs / company share your view and believe that the game is broken so that they not just fix it on the surface, but re-design it substantially.

From my side I will never pre-order or buy a game from CDPR on release day again - but will definitely follow their future work and potentially buy titles - but only based on their proven performance now.

skeletonbow: with their principle of releasing their games as DRM-free (unless that changes in the future too), people will just go pirate the games instead of giving them their money. So it is a fundamental principle that the company gets this right, their entire business model depends on it and they've put a dent in that now.

mad_crease: For a while now , several of the games they sell as DRM free are in fact not. <snip>