For better or for worse, Cyberpunk 2077 has become the most talked about and controversial game to be released in years. The PC version of the game appears to be the lone bastion of hope, boasting the best playability, graphics and lowest amount of game breaking bugs and glitches.
The initial sales for CD Projekt Red's latest RPG reflected this, debuting number one on Steam with well over 1 million gamers and earning a Mostly Positive feedback rating from from over 300,000 player reviews. A few weeks past release however, it seems that many gamers have decided to cut short their stay in Night City.
According to Steam rankings and metrics over this past weekend, the concurrent player base for Cyberpunk 2077 has fallen to a peak of just 225,000 players. This translates to what appears to be a staggering 79 percent drop in the player base. It is truly eye opening to consider that 750,000 PC players have already left Johnny Silverhand and the colorful, complicated technologic future behind.
This drop in player base, as alarming as it sounds, is actually not completely unusual for single player narrative based games. Based on further Steam analytics, most games that don't offer a persistent multiplayer feature or mode usually see a subnational drop off in player base around the first month. Combined with the fact that more people are still at home during the global pandemic and off of work for the holidays, suggests that many players may have simply binged their play time in Cyberpunk 2077 for countless uninterrupted hours and then simply moved on.
Many eager fans were likely under the assumption that Cyberpunk 2077 would be comparable to its previous and now legendary RPG outing, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Interestingly, the fantasy driven epic has been given extended life and player base due to anticipation for Cyberpunk 2077 as well as a popular Netflix series bringing in both lapsed and new fans to the continuing adventures of Geralt of Rivia. A multimedia approach may ultimately end up benefiting the studio's most recent RPG, as a Cyberpunk 2077 Netflix program has also been announced.
Although it has not even been a month since its release date, Cyberpunk 2077 will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most controversial games of all time. Not for the in game sex appeal or violence, but for the marketing and labor practices of CD Projekt Red and the conditions in which the game released on the previous generations consoles. Demands and acceptance of refunds as well as continued promises for fixes and improvement are all public promises the developers and partnering video game companies have made. Whether or not gamers stick with or return to Night City over the next few months as these improvements and fixes roll out, is the true intriguing future of this playground RPG.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions currently in development.
Source: GitHyp