Cyberpunk 2077: A game caught in the hype trap

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Why «Cyberpunk 2077» did everything right and is still trapped

On Thursday the time has finally come for the game “Cyberpunkt 2077” to appear for all platforms. The developers of CD Projekt RED have actually done everything right and are still facing difficult times.

“Cyberpunk 2077” should originally have appeared on April 16, 2020. The publication has now been postponed three times. Now it should be ready on December 10th: The most anticipated game of the year will still be released.

There are several reasons why so many gamers are eagerly waiting to finally dive into the world of “Night City”. The Polish developer studio CD Projekt RED was able to land a worldwide hit with the “The Witcher” trilogy (most recently especially with “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”). Now, many expect to go one step further with the latest game.

Most of the expectations arise from the history of the game. This is briefly shown here again:

May 12, 2012: announcement

The game was announced over eight years ago. For comparison: Most people only knew Donald Trump from “Kevin – Alone at home”. The mega hit “The Witcher 3” appeared only three years later. At this point in time, very few gamers know CD Projekt RED and not to mention Cyberpunk 2077.

January 10, 2013: First teaser

The game received a lot of attention in January 2013. The developers publish a first teaser for the game:

Look at this graphic. And the setting. For comparison, the top titles at this point are GTA 5, BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us. This is what these games looked like back then:

So it’s no wonder that the images of “Cyberpunk 2077” hit the gaming community like a bomb.

27. August 2018: Die Gameplay-Demo

Then CD Projekt RED is mainly dedicated to “The Witcher”. There will only be concrete news about cyberpunk in August 2018. The developers publish a 48-minute gameplay video on Twitch for this purpose.

The video shows the setting of the game in “Night City” for the first time. In addition, the playable characters should be wonderfully personalized. The game goes beyond the color of the eyes and hair. Later it even became known that you can adjust your genitals as you wish.

Now the hype train is really picking up speed.

9. June 2019: Keanu Reeves

Customizable genitals are not enough for you? In 2019, CD Projekt RED goes one better. Internet favorite Keanu Reeves will play an important role in the game itself and is now actively promoting the game. It comes to the iconic moment: “You’re breathtaking!”

A first release date is also specified: April 16, 2020. Now the gaming community is overflowing with anticipation.

January 16, 2020: The first shift

Then in January a first disillusionment:

The game is finished so far, but some details are still missing. Many gamers were disappointed, but forgave the darling of the big developer studios pretty quickly. Activision, Ubisoft and others had too often released unfinished games that were full of bugs when they were released. It is therefore better to take a little more time, so the basic tenor. New release date: September 17th.

18. June 2020: The second shift

However, CD Projekt RED cannot meet this publication date either. Now the developers are even specifically referring to the fact that they do not want to publish an unfinished game.

Here, too, it is emphasized again how gigantic the game will be and what can be done in it. Now you should mark the date November 19th in your calendar.

October 27th: The third shift

Unfortunately there is no release in November either.

The reason? The new consoles from Sony and Microsoft have now been announced. The developers want cyberpunk to appear on the PS5 and Xbox Series X as well. The game developed somewhere on the way to a next-gen title. In other words: The graphics will blow you away.

And now?

Now we are there, eight years after the announcement that “Cyberpunk 2077” should actually appear on December 10th. We had individualized genitals, Keanu Reeves and a game that just keeps getting bigger and better. The bar was already quite high with its predecessor “The Witcher”.

So what can we expect on Thursday? Is the best game that has been developed so far coming? Nothing less is expected. And that is exactly what becomes a problem for the developers. You took so much time, made so many promises, it will simply be impossible to live up to the hype – not even with Keanu Reeves.

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