CD Projekt has opened up about why Cyberpunk 2077 had such a troubled launch in 2020. However, the studio also revealed how it plans to avoid those same issues when Cyberpunk 2 releases in the future, including sharing code with the Witcher 4 team.
CD Projekt Explains Why Cyberpunk 2077 Had a Troubled Launch
In a recent interview at the Digital Dragons conference, CD Projekt Red Senior writer Adrian Fulneczek revealed new details about Cyberpunk 2077’s troubled launch. While the RPG is now praised as one of the greatest games of all time, its launch was infamously a bit of a disaster in 2020. It had so many bugs and performance issues that it had to temporarily be pulled off the PlayStation Store.
However, according to Fulneczek, Cyberpunk 2077’s launch problems were due to the game’s ballooning scope and the studio failing to manage all of its moving parts. “Cyberpunk was a massive undertaking. Internally, we had our documentation tool, Confluence, we had a proof of concept of ‘living’ documentation, so we thought we were ready. But it turned out we weren’t.”
The CD Projekt Red writer then explained that the chaos largely had to do with Cyberpunk 2077‘s development documentation being split across multiple platforms. “It was chaos. We also have some studies to back this up, with fragmented documentation, it clearly can correlate to burnout. If you can, don’t divide between platforms and different tools.”
How Cyberpunk 2 Plans to Avoid Launch Problems
The discussion took an interesting turn, though, when Adrian Fulneczek revealed how CD Projekt Red is planning to avoid those issues when Cyberpunk 2 launches. “We now have new requirements, especially a new definition of ‘done’.” The writer explained that Cyberpunk 2 will no longer have split documentation, development tools, and platforms.
Instead, the sequel will now be more unified, with the team working on it together. Interestingly, Fulneczek also revealed that Cyberpunk 2 devs are now sharing code with the team working on the Witcher 4 in this new unified company setup. “If a team working on The Witcher figures out a solution a specific issue, the Cyberpunk team can see it, benefit from it, take it into their own code.”
Many fans have also speculated whether Cyberpunk 2 will be PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC only or not. One of the biggest issues with Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was it having to juggle older-gen platforms such as PS4. While Fulneczek didn’t confirm that Cyberpunk 2 would be next-gen only, it does seem that the company acknowledges that the game’s scope across multiple platforms was a problem with 2077’s launch.
Cyberpunk 2 Is Already Sounding More Ambitious
This isn’t the first time CD Projekt Red has opened up about new details regarding Cyberpunk 2’s development. Recently, the game’s director revealed they are hiring new writers who can specifically write complex and emotional side quests.
Based on the job listing, it appears Cyberpunk 2 is going to lean heavily into lengthy storylines that involve complicated themes such as 2077’s popular ‘Sinner Man’ side quest. Basically, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is already sounding like it’s gearing up to be an improvement over the original.
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