Cyberpunk 2077’s shaky launch was one of the most notable events of last year. But despite the negative reactions from disappointed fans and the unfortunate state of its last-gen console versions, the game sold well and also caught the eye of Valve boss Gabe Newell.
Currently living in New Zealand, he spoke about CD Projekt Red’s latest title, confessing that he “had a lot of fun playing” its PC release, while sharing his opinion on the entire situation surrounding the game.
“As a game developer, I have a lot of sympathy with a situation that every game developer finds themselves in,” he told 1 News when addressing the need to make decisions about the trade-offs between a game’s PC and console versions.
CD Projekt Red admitted that the game’s scope alongside its desire to make it “look epic on PC” contributed to the last-gen console versions launching in a state that made them unplayable to quite a few owners.
Newell went on to say that Valve saw “a lot of very happy gamers in the PC space” enjoying the divisive RPG. While Cyberpunk 2077’s Mostly Positive rating might not be exactly what everyone hoped, 78% of the people who played it on Steam reviewed it positively.
“There are aspects of the game that are just brilliant, and it shows a tremendous amount of work — it’s unfair to throw stones at any other developer, because just getting something as complex and ambitious as that out the door is pretty amazing,” he continued.
Newell called Sony’s move to remove Cyberpunk 2077 from sale on the PlayStation Store “unusual” before bringing up CD Projekt Red’s “long history of doing a great job,” and how [he suspects] that they’re going to be very good at making their customers happy over time.”
“Everybody knows that if you’re in this business, expectations are high, and if you do it well people are going to let you know and if you failed to meet those expectations they’re are going to let you know — that’s part of why it’s a fun industry.”
Recently, the Cyberpunk 2077 developer has announced that it is delaying the RPG’s post-launch DLC to focus on addressing its more pressing issues, two major patches being on the way.
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