Cyberpunk 2077's controversial release in late 2020 was one of the biggest stories of the year. Through 2021, however, CD Projekt Red has put a lot of work into improving the game via substantial updates. Now holiday 2021 has arrived and with it steep discounts on Cyberpunk 2077. A new wave of players is trying the game for the very first time, experiencing Cyberpunk 2077 in an updated state. To the surprise of some, it's led to a wave of very positive overall reviews for Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam.

Calling attention to Cyberpunk 2077's wave of positive reviews is Paweł Sasko, quest director at CD Projekt Red. Sasko was the lead quest designer for both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 and is understandably very personally invested in both games and the public response to them. On Thursday, Sasko posted a message on Twitter point to a "flood of very positive reviews" for Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam from new players. Sasko tells his followers that they "can't imagine what it means to me" to see the recent response to Cyberpunk 2077.

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Attached to Sasko's tweet is a screen capture of Cyberpunk 2077's Steam page, showcasing some of the game profile's information. Most notably, Cyberpunk 2077's "Recent" reviews from players on Steam are highlighted as 83% positive, which fits into Steam's "Very Positive" labeling. It's no small amount of reviews, either. 11,958 reviews were submitted within the timeframe to be considered recent.

The wave of recent reviews is absolutely a step up from those prior, though perhaps not as large of a step as some may have expected. "All Time" reviews for Cyberpunk 2077 are listed as "Mostly Positive," with a rate of 76% positive across 397,330 total reviews. As such, the wave of recent reviews is only 7% more positive than those that came prior. Few wouldn't be happier with an 83% compared to a 76%, though.

What's perhaps the best takeaway from these two metrics on Steam is that perception of Cyberpunk 2077 is both good and improving. A "Very Positive" perception of Cyberpunk 2077 is certainly something CD Projekt Red should be happy with compared to online attitudes toward the game at launch. And further, the improved reviews show that CD Projekt Red's updates are working -- they developers have made the game better.

CD Projekt Red isn't stopping here, of course. It's going to continue rolling out updates for Cyberpunk 2077, including planned support for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, in the new year.

Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.

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