CD Projekt Red, the Polish studio behind the Witcher series, has been under scrutiny since the release of its latest title, Cyberpunk 2077. The launch of the sci-fi RPG was widely considered to be disastrous, with the game suffering from numerous technical and performance issues. This poor state, combined with the hype that had built up due to CD Projekt Red's success with The Witcher 3, meant the launch was followed by a considerable backlash.
Cyberpunk 2077 was rushed to release, and is missing many features the studio planned to include. One of these missing features is a multiplayer mode, which was first announced in 2013. Over the course of the game's development it became clear that the multiplayer wouldn't be ready for launch, and CD Projekt Red announced it would release the mode as a standalone spin-off after Cyberpunk 2077.
Adding multiplayer to a single-player title isn't an easy task, particularly for a studio that has never done multiplayer before. Despite this, CD Projekt Red has made it clear that it's planning on introducing online functionality into many, possibly all, of its future titles.
Adding Multiplayer to a Single-player Series
CD Projekt Red certainly isn't the first studio to consider adding multiplayer gameplay to a series that has traditionally been single-player. Making this change is often a huge undertaking, prompting studios to hire specialist consultants and hordes of multiplayer developers in order to pull it off. However, difficult doesn't mean impossible, and there are some studios that have successfully integrated online play into single-player series.
One series that succeeded in adding a relatively popular multiplayer mode is Assassin's Creed, which first introduced competitive multiplayer in its third major title, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. This initial foray into multiplayer was well received by fans, and expanded over the next few titles. For the release of Assassin's Creed Unity, Ubisoft expanded the multiplayer gameplay into a co-op narrative instead of competitive deathmatches. However, despite the relative success of these multiplayer additions, Ubisoft decided not to include the feature from Unity onward.
The Dangers of Adding Multiplayer
For the very few successful attempts to integrate multiplayer into a traditionally single-player series, there have been many more unsuccessful or unpopular ones. BioWare experimented with online functionality for the third titles in its popular Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. Mass Effect 3 was the first to receive a multiplayer mode, a co-op horde-style game that was tied into the single-player campaign. Playing the multiplayer mode increased the Readiness Rating, which allowed players to get a better ending to the trilogy.
Despite a mixed critical reception to the multiplayer mode, many fans of the previously single-player Mass Effect series largely weren't happy with the new mode. The main criticisms were its connection to the campaign, meaning players couldn't just ignore the mode; and the reliance on loot boxes, which helped to push the concept into the mainstream. BioWare addressed the first concern with its multiplayer mode for Dragon Age: Inquisition, separating it from the main campaign completely, but kept the loot boxes due to their success as a revenue stream. While many fans were happy to simply ignore the multiplayer aspects, others saw a pointless, greedy addition.
It's these examples of two popular RPG series gaining multiplayer modes that are most relevant when discussing CD Projekt Red's future. Adding multiplayer to any game is a massive undertaking, even more so when adding it to a series with a single-player focus. No studio can afford to add multiplayer without being sure it will bring in enough extra revenue to compensate. This, combined with the growing normalization of loot boxes and other microtransactions in multiplayer titles, means fans of CD Projekt Red have good reason to be wary of the studio's interest in online modes.