It wasn't "cool" to hate on Cyberpunk 2077 at launch - it was broken

After a Cyberpunk 2077 developer suggested that part of the backlash against the game's launch was the result of it becoming "cool" not to like it, players have been reminiscing on their experiences of the game's launch.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, VP of PR and communication Michał Platkow-Gilewski reflects on CD Projekt Red's need to reconnect and rebuild trust with its players after Cyberpunk 2077's disappointing launch. While Platkow-Gilewski acknowledged that the community had been let down, he also suggests that "Cyberpunk on launch was way better than it was received [...] then it became a cool thing not to like it. We went from hero to zero really fast."

While there certainly was an element of schadenfreude to the chaos of Cyberpunk 2077's launch, it's hard to pin everything on the idea that players simply decided not to like the game. Platkow-Gilewski's comments have seen a wave of commenters on Twitter harking back to the furore around launch. As Twitter user Knoebel points out, "the launch was so bad" that it made national news bulletins around the world, after it was pulled from the PlayStation store over performance issues - an unprecedented move from Sony.

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Other players have been highlighting individual issues. One tweet claims that "the game was beyond buggy at launch," noting specific examples including poor AI pathfinding, a near-broken police system, and the game's abysmal last-gen performance. Others have been even more specific, highlighting issues like unreadable UI and inventory text.

The conversation also turned to Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Voice actor Zane Schacht commented on the game's turnaround, claiming that while the upcoming expansion is said to offer what CD Projekt Red should have provided at launch, the messaging around that launch was still "dishonest."

Cyberpunk 2077's performance on PS5 and Xbox Series X was far better than its last-gen counterparts, but sentiment at launch suggested that the game didn't deliver on the fantasy of a deep, immersive city. Phantom Liberty is understood to be a turning point on that front, but that doesn't mean everyone will forget what Night City looked like the first time we set our eyes on it.

The Witcher 4, Cyberpunk 2, and CDPR's other games are all "at different stages".

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for news, shaping the news strategy across the team. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.