Six months later, 'Cyberpunk 2077' will return to the PlayStation Store

Cyberpunk 2077 is back, baby — almost. The game’s developer CD Projekt Red has issued a regulatory filing (via Bloomberg) stating that Sony will reinstate the game in its PlayStation Store following the release of patches to the open-world role-playing game.

The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 last December was met with derision as gamers ridiculed the much-hyped game for being littered with bugs, constant crashes, and other performance issues. The situation got so bad that most major retailers and even CD Projekt Red itself was forced to offer full refunds to customers. In an unprecedented move, Sony pulled the game from its PlayStation Store a week after launch.

CD Projekt Red’s stock price understandably tanked in the fallout. What was supposed to be a major release for the developer has instead dragged its stock price today down to about half what it was when Cyberpunk was released.

Overpromise, underdeliver — The Polish company delayed Cyberpunk 2077 multiple times and assured gamers it wouldn’t rush the game to release. Insiders have since reported that management did in fact, force them to rush the game to market in order to capitalize on the launch of the next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Clearly, that wasn’t a good idea as it resulted in an extremely buggy, unfinished game.

It’s a classic case of overpromising and underdelivering. The developer hyped up Cyberpunk 2077 for years as an over-the-top blockbuster and maybe set itself up for failure in the process. The game development business model adds extra pressure, as a company like CD Projekt Red sees most of its income only when it releases a new title.

Even if the game’s bugs are fixed, some still feel Cyberpunk 2077 is fundamentally underwhelming, lacking real depth in its storyline for a game that was supposed to be one of the greatest titles of the decade. But high expectations certainly added to the disappointment.

Poor sales — Bloomberg reports that CD Projekt Red’s income for the first three months of 2021 missed estimates by 62 percent. The company also wouldn’t disclose sales of Cyberpunk 2077 for the period, only saying that it didn’t meet any of the milestones it hoped for. Translation: the game probably didn’t sell very well, at least by the company’s usual standards.

CD Projekt Red’s stock price is up nearly 15 percent today on the news about the PlayStation Store reinstating its latest title. So perhaps gamers will return to Cyberpunk 2077 as Sony’s seen fit to give the game its stamp of approval again.