How Cyberbunk 2077 sold a promise and made the system worse

C.D. Project Red has been a great architect for almost a decade Cyberpunk 2077 Myths. Game reviewers still had a few days to evaluate it, and were troubled by how they could portray it. Players who dropped $ 60 on this cyberbunk pleasure palace are back in 2019; The hot air all came out. Presented by a professional reviewer, Gully Blake Cyberpunk 2077 On a 7/10 GamespotThere is not even a pan to criticize it for a one-dimensional world building, fragmented page searches and large-scale technical issues. Participated in the mass harassment review. The reactionary YouTubers, who have no access to the game, devoted long videos to dispelling his critique, splitting his game time and playstyle. But after a few days, once the players have finally played Cyberpunk 2077 By themselves, many did 180. “Everyone talked about her, but I’m starting to agree with Kelly [sp] Blake, ”Read a popular post on / r / cyberpunkgame.

C.D. Project Red Marketing is not the first or only gaming company to make sci-apps. In 2016, There is no human sky Truly promised to the world and to infinite others; It’s too detailed, too immersive, too much Most Game up to it. But since the studio behind it, Hello Games, did not provide critics with it before it opened, gamers found a difficult way to fail to provide the basics, such as a multiplayer connection. This year alone, WIRED received a dozen offers to review major games linked to NDAs. Covering up shortcomings is not always the case; Sometimes it is the result of blocking spoilers or excessive PR grouping. But putting those kinds of handcuffs on critics ultimately hurts game buyers.

The sports industry market size.4 With $ 60.4 billion to cross, the pressure to micromanage the reviews system is even greater. For example, Bloomberg Is Announced that C.D. The bonus of the developers of Project Red was consistently in the 90+ on Metacritic. (This changed the post-release version.) The company developed a video game equivalent to a bottle genie. So what do they do when everyone gets a powerhouse: control the stories. C.D. Project Red rejected WIRED request for comment.

The same privileges make the system worse against developers Six day work weeks And sacrifice to express work-life balance Slogans Like “a city bigger than life”, “sets new standards in terms of scenery, complexity and depth.” These are the modern expectations for the 60-hour, AAA Open World Games – which are increasingly swollen and increasingly unsustainable. In June, former PlayStation manager Sean Laden lamented the enormous financial and workload of developing these types of games. GamesIndustry.biz. “I think the whole industry has to sit back and say, ‘Well, what do we build? What does the audience expect? What’s the best way to tell what we have to say, beyond our story?'”

Eight million pre-orders, says this level-management benefits anyone. Video games are particularly vulnerable to bait and switch. Games are labels and hobbies: be yourself, explore who you are, something you make and own. Better customization, bigger worlds, more graphics – more, more, more – it can’t go that fast. But an organization that grows trust will grow as big as the trust that is placed in it.

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