...kay then

You couldn't live with your failure.

Yesterday I captured my own raw unfettered emotion upon learning of the delay of the single most anticipated game of the year, not just for me but for many others. I went over my disappointment and conspiracy theories about the potential truth behind this decision, and where I feel that we were a little let-down in terms of communication. (They keep in contact with fans so regularly, I feel like this could have been disclosed sooner.) And yet today roundly shocked me when we heard the admission from CD Projekt Red that the studio would undergo "some degree" of crunch in order to get this game out on time, despite the 'delay'. That broke my brain a little bit. Are you serious? That was the one thing that those guys promised wouldn't happen, which felt important given the history of their previous games. If this doesn't solidify the fact that the April deadline was never a possibility, then is sure means someone seriously dropped the ball when it came to deciding the release date.

But none of that is either here-nor-there for the current topic at hand, because I want to seed some positivity into this situation for a hot moment as we go over the ways that this switch in release date is a good thing, both for Cyberpunk and the industry at large. Firstly, obviously, it is always good for a studio to take their time when working at putting a game together because first impressions are incredibly important and you only get to make them once. (Ignore what Todd Howard says on that matter. And the FFXIV team. And the ESO team. Those are mostly flukes.) I'm pretty sure that myself and many others are willing to wait a handful more months in order for the game to be polished to a mirror sheen and for all of the kinks to be buffered out. Additionally, this might give the team the time to set in the hooks for that Online mode that they plan to move onto after launch, hopefully making it's eventual implementation as seamless as humanly possible. I hear Miymoto's Razor loud and clear, I'll wait this one out.

Secondly, this decision has helped to clear out the early months of 2020 so that some of the other first quarter games get their chance to shine. On one hand this means that such 'stellar' and 'exciting' titles like 'I am Jesus Christ' will get to strut it's stuff. (Rumors on that one is for an April release.) Whilst on the other end of the spectrum there will be games that will be allowed to hit with the impact that they deserve to, like Resident Evil 3. Originally that title and Cyberpunk 2077 were slated to share the same release month, and I was a little worried that someone might have been a little out-shone. Additionally, titles like the 'Final Fantasy VII Remake' and 'Doom Eternal' had been pushed back to April and March respectively, essentially putting both those titles into a disastrous collision course. Now things are looking a lot more sound as those titles will all be given their room to breath and undergo in a much more fair 'popularity contest'. (It's just too bad that this year's COD is going to suffer from the compe- >sigh< I couldn't finish that with a straight face.)

Thirdly, there is the matter of the impression this will leave on the industry going forward. As I have stated before, the prominence of Cyberpunk 2077 in the gaming industry cannot be understated, it is the biggest title right now and with that heightened attention comes inflated culpability. So when CDPR make the admission that they cannot bring out the title when they intended and need to delay things by a few months, it leaves an impression upon other producers and indie teams. Will this cut down on the amount of rushed and poorly put together titles? perhaps, it's difficult to rightly say for the moment. Some games, like Anthem, are doomed to fail from the start and no amount of prolonged delays would have saved it, (It already benefited from a crazy amount of delays, afterall) but perhaps this example could do some good elsewhere.

Fourthly, (is that a thing people say?) I feel that moving Cyberpunk to September may have the effect of raising the bar of titles around it through the merit of competition. (In know this is kind-of an expansion upon my second point but bear with me.) As the 'release month', September is usually home to the big titles of the year including COD, Sports titles, and whatever Battlefield offering is out this year; and that means the pace of that month is all-too-often set entirely by those games. Other prominent titles that get relegated to the back half of the year often have to time their releases all around those games as they tread on eggshells praying they don't get overshadowed. This dominance has allowed for certain assurances regarding quality to slip, as those games usually mop up sales regardless of how broken they are.

Last September saw the launch of two terribly-broken sports titles, a decent (but not brilliant) COD game and an ill advised overhaul to Battlefield V that destroyed the in-game balance. All these mess-ups mean that eyes are on these yearly mainstays to deliver this year, and now that pressure is compounded because they will be going up against a title that is set to be one of this generation's crowing masterpieces. This will either drive these studios to pull out the best they possibly can or encourage them to half-ass this year in the knowledge that they can start fresh next console generation. (You never know.)

Finally, I feel that this delay will be beneficial to the marketing push for Cyberpunk. Even as we entered into this year, there were concerns running amidst the fans that the excitement for Cyberpunk 2077 wasn't as high as it could have been. That is to say, hype probably peaked from the 2018 gameplay trailer, but 2019's 'ways-to-play' walkthrough seemed a tad tame in comparison. Most thought that we'd get something cool about the game at the VGAs, and we did, but (for reasons that I'll go into in a separate blog) it wasn't really the kind of thing that would sell the game to those that weren't already convinced. Cyberpunk 2077 needed to put out one last 'hail-mary' trailer that would soak up all of the press and attention and have people as excited as they were during 2018, and with this delay they have a prime opportunity to do that. 2020's E3 will be the place to be, (despite Sony's pulling out for the second year running) and so I would anticipate that as being the perfect moment to spring an extended final reveal to take all of our breath away.

After going through this little bit of self-therapy with myself, I feel slightly better about the lamentable position that we gamers find ourselves at going into this year. Personally, I will admit that it kind of sucks that we literally have nothing to look forward to this entire year until September. (except for RE3, that'll be nice.) It feels like we're collectively starting 2020 on a low that has the trajectory to persist. But then I also have a neuroses about the passing of time, so perhaps you don't share such concerns and am happy to let a few more months pass you by in haze of anticipation. (I'll just be spending that time feeling my skin starting to crack as atrophy slowly sets in.) Here's hoping that CDPR make the most of their time; bring us something spectacular, guys! Or just bring Cirilla into the game. I'd accept that.