I will make it no secret that I have personally lost all faith in CDPR and the future of Cyberpunk. I do not believe that the game will ever live up to the hype, nor do I feel it will ever feel complete. It is because of this that I feel it necessary to start this article with full transparency on how I personally feel duped as a consumer and as someone in the industry who truly wishes better for gamers as a whole. That said, I am not surprised by the news that leadership is once again shifting, presumably in order to save what little face CDPR has left.
Earlier today it was reported that Gabriel Amatangelo, previously creative director for CDPR who joined the company last January, is moving into a new leadership role for future development on Cyberpunk‘s expansions. This comes after Adam Badowski, who was the director lead before, was moved into a different position at the company. Whether or not this was a PR move or something Badowski felt was necessary after constant backlash from fans or some other reason remains unclear. However, it should be noted that Badowski has faced massive criticism for his responses regarding the trainwreck that was Cyberpunk 2077‘s launch all the way up to its current state, which is still unacceptable by many standards.
Previously, Gabriel Amatangelo had done major work for EA, BioWare, and others as Creative Director. His most notable works outside of CDPR include being involved in Dragon Age: Inquisition and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
At this point in time, it should also be noted that Sony has not allowed CDPR to sell Cyberpunk 2077 on its digital online storefront, which means it is not available for purchase on the PlayStation Network for neither PS4 nor PS5, though you can still purchase discounted physical copies wherever games are sold. Whether or not this changes once the PS5 version of the game is ready to go is hard to say considering how consumers felt misled and flat-out lied to about the state of the game, advertising, and performance on pretty much every platform available. Sony may ease up on their ruling but we would have to assume they will do much more to verify the legitimacy of performance this time around.
CDPR has gone through some major internal shakeups over recent months with management and leadership either being moved into new roles or resigning over allegations of poor work environments and even bullying. Design Director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz comes to mind as he allegedly left the company to avoid instilling further “fear, stress, or discomfort” in fellow employees despite being found not guilty when an internal workplace investigation was held regarding alleged bullying of employees.
As time has gone on, Cyberpunk 2077 still faces criticism and is plagued with bugs, missing assets, and other major flaws that have caused the playerbase to dwindle down to a few. Since the game’s release last December, it has been found for half price at many major retailers.
Personally, I picked the game up for PC but never beat Cyberpunk 2077 outright. The game was not what I was led to believe it was and is full of bugs, awful AI, and some of the worst gaming experiences I have ever had on a AAA title. And while some gamers are able to ignore these obvious flaws and even able to find joy in the game, it is clear that this wasn’t what I wanted. Some fans are hoping that the game will make a full turn-around and feel more like what was advertised in some years but I truly doubt that will ever be the case. CDPR is planning to take on another Witcher title in the future and I can’t imagine them spending resources on what would clearly take a foundation rebuild of CP2077 in order to make it feel complete.
