Healing Through Phantom Liberty: Cyberpunk 2077 Team Transforms Adversity into Triumph
The director of Cyberpunk 2 recounts that the process of creating Phantom Liberty was comparable to "group therapy" following the challenging debut of Cyberpunk 2077.
Following the tumultuous release of Cyberpunk 2077, which was marred by numerous bugs, missing features, and significant online backlash, the development team found solace in producing the Phantom Liberty expansion and the 2.0 update. This experience has been described as a form of collective healing by the lead developer of the expansion.
Pawel Sasko, the director of Cyberpunk 2 and Phantom Liberty, recently reflected on the intense 2020 launch in an interview with Flow Games. He described the reception of the base game as overwhelmingly negative, especially for team members who had joined CD Projekt Red after the highly successful release of The Witcher 3. Sasko shared his personal insights, mentioning that he knew what it felt like to work on beloved games, adding that it was disheartening to see newer team members so deeply affected. He emphasized the emotional impact on the team, stating it was a particularly tough experience for everyone involved.
The production of Phantom Liberty served as a therapeutic process for the team, allowing them to work through their difficulties. Sasko elaborated on the journey, noting that patches 1.2 and 1.3 were important steps that addressed many issues but didn't significantly alter public sentiment. The 1.5 update marked a more substantial improvement, yet the feedback still felt underwhelming to Sasko, as if the team had merely gotten a "consolation prize" in a challenging race. The real turning point came with the Edgerunners 1.6 update, which coincided with the release of a Netflix anime series that provided an excellent introduction to the Cyberpunk universe. This combination of updates and the anime series renewed the team's motivation, giving them hope that a true turnaround was achievable.
The release of Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 update and the Phantom Liberty expansion validated the team's belief that the game could be successfully improved. The developers recently celebrated a significant milestone with the RPG receiving 'Overwhelmingly Positive' reviews on Steam.
In an exciting development, Cyberpunk 2077 is set to receive a substantial multiplayer mod, allowing for engaging PvP death matches, races, and other activities for up to 20 players.
