Cyberpunk 2077 was easily the most-awaited video game of 2020. Fan expectations were unsurprisingly high due to the success of CD Projekt Red's previous project, The Witcher 3. Players were also captivated by the prospect of the futuristic world that Cyberpunk promised. It was meant to be a smooth entry of a new IP but plans have a way of falling through in unexpected moments.
Unfortunately for CDPR and many developers that dared to make their games available on older consoles, optimization is a tough mistress. CD Projekt Red quickly took to their Twitter account to apologize for their shortcomings.
A glitch in the code
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 14, 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 crash-landed on old generation consoles. Fans playing the game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were understandably upset at the state of the game on their platforms. The audience backlash immediately prompted CDPR to dole out refund offers for players that picked up the game on PS4 and Xbox One.
CD Projekt Red's behavior regarding its game's old-generation version is suspicious, to say the least. It begs the question of how they ever thought anyone would happily play through the game on old tech. Game graphics and textures on PS4 and Xbox One pale in comparison to their PC counterpart. Undoubtedly, CDPR has a lot to answer for but this has raised an important issue in games.
We can look at CDPR's questionable marketing of old generation versions at a later date. For now, it's important to talk about how developers neglect optimization for older technology. Bear in mind that this will apply more towards console ports of games as PC games have minimum requirements that serve as proper benchmarks.
History repeats
No doubt game developers look to launch games on as many platforms as possible to raise profits. They can make more money by making their game as accessible as possible. However, accessibility does not equate to playability. Players need to hold devs responsible or this will never end for all of us.
It's become increasingly clear in the past few years in the industry that devs care more about money than their players. Greedy developers find more ways to stuff their game full of microtransactions. It's a disgusting trend and it may never go away completely. There's very little that players can do to combat money-leeching practices but we can fight back against unnecessary ports. CDPR conveniently prevented any footage from old game consoles to release prior to the game's release and now we know why.
There have been many cases where games performed poorly on old consoles but players were just left to deal with it. Monolith Productions' Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor famously tanked on old generation consoles. Fans regarded the port as completely unplayable. Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim suffered nearly the same setbacks with its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. It's been years but the general problem still persists in the industry.
Buyer beware
Players that jumped the gun and pre-ordered Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4 and XBO are lucky. Fortunately, CDPR quickly offered refunds following their dubious approach with the release. However, not all game developers will be as reflective of their glaring mistakes. There are developers that will simply move on and make their next project without making amends.
It's extremely unfortunate that CDPR got caught up in this mess. Fans lauded CDPR due to the success of The Witcher 3. The developer's sketchy practices have called their reputation into question. Ideally, CDPR should not have forced ports for old consoles. Forcing games onto systems that can't handle them is just insanity. It can only be taken as an attempt to grab more cash from loyal fans.
Cyberpunk's disastrous old-gen console launch is beyond an optimization problem. It's an insult to loyal fans that CDPR ever thought they could get away with such an inferior offering. Fortunately for CD Projekt Red, they have a lot of goodwill to squander with their fans but it won't last forever.
Final words
Die-hard fans still defend the game despite bugs and poor ports. CD Projekt Red has expressed remorse for the poor game port but their approach is still questionable. Game developers need to be held accountable for shady practices or they'll just continue stealing money from players with shoddy games.
This is not a dagger at CD Projekt Red, this is a call to help improve the overall landscape of video games. There's no one else that will help the industry besides the players that pour hours and money into it. Stop indulging in horrible games that aren't worth half their listed price. Wake up, Samurai.
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