CD Projekt Red is in full flight, withThe Witcher 4revealed and a sequel toCyberpunk 2077announced. The studio’s certainly keeping itself busy, and the move to Unreal Engine 5 marks an exciting transition. CDPR’s engine switch could play a part in helping the studio break its worst tradition, especially with the custom build of the engine and extra attention from Epic Games.
Although known for its amazing games and attention to detail, CD Projekt Red is a studio that benefits from time after the launches of its titles, rather than breaking ground at release.CDPR launches have typically been rough for fans and the studio alike, although the studio has shown astounding resilience. Another rough launch, however, could be more than the studio can handle.
Cyberpunk 2077 Was Incredibly Destructive
Thegame-breaking launch ofCyberpunk 2077was especially infamous, and if it were any other studio, the damage the launch did might have been irreparable. While CD Projekt Red recovered remarkably well,the launch ofCyberpunkwas awful.
Initially,Cyberpunk 2077could barely run on the PS4 and Xbox One, struggled even on powerful PCs, and was clearly missing features. This situation was apparently due to crunches andrushing from executiveswhen the game could have done with an extra six months or even a year in development.
Despite its launch,Cyberpunk 2077is now at Very Positive onSteam, with 85% of users marking the game as a positive experience.
Still, because of the hype, the terrible launch was difficult to hide from, which wasn’t the case withThe Witcher 3.Wild Huntdid not launch well, with a lot of performance issues and bugs. Nothing was as bad asCyberpunk,butnone ofThe Witchertitles had entirely smooth releases.
The Witcher 3didn’t face the same level of scrutiny, as its strong points tended to overwhelm the flaws for most of the community. After its success, however, CDPR hasn’t had this same luxury.Poor performance at launch is becoming common for many games, and it’s hard for CD Projekt Red to maintain its’better than the rest’reputation with another bad launch.
Cyberpunk 2077 2 & Witcher 4 Need To Break This Tradition
Unreal Engine 5 could help break the tradition of bad launches, especially with Epic Games' help, butUnreal titles are known for rough launches, especially on PC.Wuchang: Fallen Feathersis the most recent in a line of Unreal games withterrible PC performance, andThe Witcher 4needs to avoid this. It needs to make the change to Unreal 5 seem worthwhile, and CDPR has already taken one good step with theWitcher 4tech demo onThe Witcher’s official YouTube channel.
After the terrible launch ofCyberpunk 2077, it might be tough for CD Projekt Red to ride out another bad launch. On the other hand, it has a track record of helping a game recover from a bad launch, but a weak start still sacrifices the opportunity for critical acclaim and puts the studio under immense pressure.The Witcher 4needs a good launch to at least help CD Projekt Redavoid the stress of disappointed fans again.
