To say that Cyberpunk 2077 had a shaky release would be putting it lightly. While the game did top sales charts, it came out underdeveloped, having glitches in both its PC and console iterations. The console edition had enough issues that Sony and Microsoft had to start offering refunds for the game, and they even had to put a disclaimer up for future buyers, which doesn't typically happen with AAA titles.
CD Projekt Red has a respected reputation thanks to its work on The Witcher 3, so the number of issues surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 was unexpected for many. To try and figure out what went wrong, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier asked some current and former CD Projekt Red employees about their take on the subject. Since then, the outlet has claimed several things, such as CD Projekt Red's employees being surprised by Cyberpunk 2077's release date, and how the Cyberpunk 2077 E3 demo was fake.
These accusations garnered a response from Adam Badowski, CD Projekt Red's Studio Head. Badowski tweeted at Schreier to offer his comments and corrections on the report. Badowski disputes three things in particular: First, the Cyberpunk 2077 E3 demo wasn't a fake; changes were just made that resulted in the final product. Second, he said Schreier doesn't know if "most" employees were surprised by the game's release date as he only talked to 20 out of about 500 individuals. Third, he said there's no strict company rule saying employees can't use their native language in front of those who can't speak it.
In his comments, Badowski doesn't really address the "employee" accusations levied by Schreier's article. For instance, Badowski's response about some employees suggesting those speaking another language made them feel 'ostracized' boils down to him saying CD Projekt Red has no control over that. For some observers, Badowski doesn't seem to provide confidence in the quality of CD Projekt Red's workplace, which is one angle Schreier is playing at regarding the performance of Cyberpunk's console debut.
It would be interesting to hear more from the overall Cyberpunk development team, as Badowski suggests that the majority would contradict Schreier's claims. However, such a thing likely isn't feasible, and past incidents such as the contradictory implementation of Cyberpunk's mandatory crunch order, and the initial callousness that CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kicinski seemingly had toward said crunch order, make it hard to disprove Schreier's reporting.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.
