Cyberpunk 2077may not have exceeded fans' expectations with its release, but it turned out to be a commercial success nonetheless. However, with such questionable marketing and PR decisions, the company’s reputation has been tarnished. While this is something that could be fixed in the future, a new report from market research firm DFC Intelligence suggests that all of this “could have been avoided with some basic marketing and public relations.”
Cyberpunk 2077release has been nothing short of a debacle. While it’s a visual spectacle on a high-end PC,Cyberpunk 2077is struggling on PS4 and Xbox Onewith low-resolution textures, uneven fps drops, and game-breaking bugs. CD Projekt Red has, since then, apologized and laid out a roadmap for the game’s various patches, free DLC’s and free-next gen upgrades. WhileCyberpunk 2077is still redeemable, CD Projekt Red has certainly taken a huge hit in the eyes of the community.
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CD Projekt Red also acts as a publisher for its games and theCyberpunk 2077debacle has started to raise questions about the company’s future. According to DFC Intelligence, “The company now becomes one to watch as an acquisition candidate.“Cyberpunk 2077could have benefitted from the publishing hands of a bigger company,” something that could have done wonders for both the game and the developers.
DFC explains that Microsoft had plans to acquire CD Projekt Red before the company settled on buying Bethesda for $7.5 billion. Early last year, CD Projekt Red becameEurope’s most valuable game company. While things have changed significantly sinceCyberpunk 2077hit the shelves, the company’s net value is still similar to that of Ubisoft or Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax Media. While all of this doesn’t confirm CD Projekt’s Red potential buyout, it does confirm that the company isn’t entirely ready to market such huge AAA titles. As DFC suggests,” The main lesson to learn fromCyberpunk 2077is that the publisher role of managing distribution, marketing, and public relations is still an important one."
Acquisitions in the video game industry have drastically increased in the last couple of years. Microsoft buying the entirety of the Bethesda family isn’t the only deal that stands out. Recently the news surfaced about EA acquiring Codemasters, the British game development company responsible for theDirtfranchise. Moreover, rumors such asSony acquiring Kojima Productionsare also floating across the internet.
While it’s unknown whether CD Projekt Red will be acquired from a big publishing company or not,Cyberpunk 2077continues to sell incredibly well despite its current issues. As of December 20, ten days after its release, the game has sold over 13 million copies, and that number is expected to grow even more when thenext-gen upgrade dropslater this year.
Cyberpunk 2o77is now available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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