It's no secret - Cyberpunk 2077's launch was a disaster. Expectations were high after years of build up, and the final result failed to meet the weighty expectations of fans, as promised by CD Projekt Red. This has prompted the company to look back at its marketing campaigns and reassess how it will go forward with them.
The answer? In a recent strategy update, CD Projekt’s senior vice president of business development, Michał Nowakowski, said the studio will deliver "much shorter" marketing campaigns, revealing the game and footage closer to its actual release. Cyberpunk 2077's was shown for years in trailers, going all the way back to 2013.
"Going forward, our campaigns will be much shorter. We’ll wait until much closer to a game’s launch before we start showing things like trailers, demos, or going in-depth about mechanics, etc."
"And when campaigns do start, we aim to properly manage expectations across all platforms. This means focusing on communication of polished game footage, not concepts. We’ll also showcase footage of our games on all platforms they will be released on."
Small teasers will still come for future titles in advance, if the game warrants it, but it seems they'll be more carefully planned going forward. Cyberpunk 2077's horrendous reception even prompted Sony to remove the game from the PlayStation Store, which CD Projekt said in a recent conference call, it "believe[s] may also influence purchasing decisions of not only those playing on PlayStation but also on other platforms".
The multiplayer component of Cyberpunk 2077 that CD Projekt Red had been planning is also being reconsidered. It's unclear whether it's been cancelled completely, but it's not sounding promising. Only time will tell.
Do you agree with CD Projekt's new stance on marketing? Let us know in the comments below.
[source youtube.com, via cdprojekt.com]
Comments 8
In other words, we wont be hearing about anything new from CD Projekt Red for 5 years...
Good. As it should be. I can't tell you the number of games I've seen that looked cool but wound up forgetting about them, subsequently never playing, because of these kinds of practices.
I do hope that CDPR can come back from all of this.
This Cyberpunk 2077 fiasco really tarnished a great game and CDPR's reputation - was it everything that promised? Nope. Overhyped? Maybe. Bugged? Absolutely. But it's still a great story-based single player title: likable characters, emotional story-telling, and a cool world to just explore (especially when using Dolby Atmos to get fully immersed).
Was marketing time really the problem? Or was it the lack of attention paid to the console versions?
Either way I would like them to redeem themselves but I fail to see how the length of a marketing campaign is the solve here.
@SegataSanshiro It's kind of a big deal.
By the old policy they should reveal their next game now that releases on PS6/Xbox Next 😂
@torne Yes, because the game was announced way too early, in 2012, and CDPR kept reminding consumers that the game was coming. This leads to hype, which leads to people asking "when are we going to see/play the game?" repeatedly for 8 years, which leads to release dates being bandied about. Then, of course, the game is realistically nowhere near ready for release, which leads to delay after delay, which leads to unhappy consumers, management and investors.. all culminating in a game that was half-baked and buggy after 8 years of CDPR and consumers hyping it up as the second coming.
If CDPR had worked on the game, kept their mouths shut until 5 or 6 months before the game would realistically be ready and announced it then, they wouldn't be in this mess.
How about also not just showing PC footage and passing it off as console gameplay as well
Not only was the game announced way too early but they built up so many promises that never came to fruition in regards to graphical fidelity or even just in game features
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