Cyberpunk 2077 dev responds to death threats after third delay: ‘We are people, just like you’
A Cyberpunk 2077 developer said that the team has been receiving death threats.
Cyberpunk 2077 is the most anticipated game of 2020, but between the delays (first to Sept. 17, then again to Nov. 19) and the allegations of labor abuse at CD Projekt Red, it has had a rocky development cycle.
CD Projekt Red has now announced a third delay, this time to Dec. 10, to the outrage of many fans.
We have important news to share with you pic.twitter.com/qZUaD6IwmM
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) October 27, 2020
Andrzej Zawadski, a senior game designer at CD Projekt Red, has tweeted that the Cyberpunk 2077 team has been receiving death threats from some of these angry gamers (thanks, Eurogamer).
I want to address one thing in regards of the @CyberpunkGame delay.
I understand you're feeling angry, disappointed and want to voice your opinion about it.
However, sending death threats to the developers is absolutely unacceptable and just wrong. We are people, just like you.— Andrzej Zawadzki (@ZawAndy) October 27, 2020
Previously, gamers have been sharply divided on the discourse surrounding the upcoming game. While many were rightly critical of the stories about excessive overtime from anonymous workers within CD Projekt Red, others took to fiercely defending the company because of its staunch pro-consumer stance.
CD Projekt Red has been famously generous to its customers, providing loads of free content for its games well after release and refusing to add any DRM to its products during a time when many game publishers placed draconian protection measures on their products.
But this latest delay has even the company’s most ardent supporters questioning their loyalty. Many fans who specifically requested vacation time from their jobs for the game’s prior Nov. 19 window are now distraught.
One poor fan even asked the official Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account for “full confirmation” that the game will indeed release on Nov. 19 so he could ask his boss for time off. The account enthusiastically responded with “Full confirmation,” then recanted the statement a day later.
Full confirmation!
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) October 26, 2020
It’s highly unusual for a game that’s already gone gold to announce yet another delay so close to release. Launching a game for 9 platforms is no easy feat, as CD Projekt Red said in its tweet. However, whatever problems the dev team is working out must be major if it requires such a sudden delay.
Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who has been covering Cyberpunk 2077’s development closely, confirmed that the developers were also taken by surprise. An internal company email declaring a new launch date was sent simultaneously with the public tweet.
All of them found out at the same time we did – CDPR sent an internal email simultaneously with the public tweet
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) October 27, 2020
This should really go without saying but please: Don’t send death threats to anyone, especially not overworked game developers who are already punching in 100-hour work weeks and will have to continue doing so for an extra three weeks.
Cyberpunk 2077 will release on Dec. 10 (hopefully — fingers crossed) for PC and all major consoles.
If you enjoyed this story, check out In The Know’s article on a former Cyberpunk 2077 developer speaking out about the CD Projekt Red’s brutal ‘crunch’ working conditions.
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