Cyberpunk 2077 removed from Sony's online store after buggy launch

boing
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about the only things i think could do it are overheating due to run away threads, or otherwise stressing the cpu, memory, or drive out.

systems do come with tolerance for manufacturing defects and a game that’s really pounding something it shouldn’t – there’s no way they made it through the standard certification process with all their bugs - might trash some hardware.

but, also somewhat sceptical. ( you might be able to guess based on how loud the fans get during play, or how much it hits the drive )

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Yup, definitely. But, but in fairness any graphically intensive title could do this. (Also it seems like people these days have a pretty loose definition of “bricking”.)

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It may be that Cyberpunk 2077 is simply a “heat fault stress test”, so to speak, and some systems, through whatever combo of substandard and/or worn/broken parts, choose that heavy load as the moment to give up the ghost.

I can definitely verify that it makes my gaming laptop breathe a little heavy, although it defaulted to High/Ultra on most settings and runs smoothly (vSync 60 FPS) most of the time. I’m not surprised older consoles find it to be a heavy lift, and I’m actually somewhat impressed that it runs at all.

If CD Projekt Red sticks to their guns and hammers out the issues, one by one – without causing a staff mutiny – I think the game can be epic. This is even more true, with strong community support via mods; hopefully we see a modding environment similar to Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series.

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image

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I was very much excited for the game sharing features MS initially announced (but not the way they announced it, as you say) so I was disappointed that they never implemented them even for digital purchases as they said they would, aside from the clunky workaround of using the “Home” Xbox functionality. It makes me question if any of that stuff was ever actually going to be implemented.

Since then both Apple and Google have implemented Family Sharing plans where 6 members can have access to a shared library. The good news is Phil Spencer has indicated in the last few days that they’re looking to do a Family plan for GamePass which at least would be a step in the right direction.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a longtime Xbox fan, Xbox has been my main platform since 2002, I’ve got my Series X sitting next to me in its shipping box for Christmas morning. I’ve been a big fan of what Spencer has done over the last 5-6 years, GamePass alone is what led me to get a Series X before PS5 (which I’ll probably pick up when they drop their new VR headset), but as someone who has owned every major console over the last 30 years, I have no problem calling out BS from any of them and in this case they’re all guilty of poor return policies.

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Observation: There are a number of big players in terms of console distribution, and several have high stakes in the resale market. Negotiating a path forward for family sharing plans (and digital resale) would naturally need to take into consideration these 2nd-hand-game-sales-heavy “distribution partners,” or risk being deprioritized in their launch plans.

Rumors are that Sony had two different presentations queued up that GDC. One in which they demonstrated similar capabilities (having made similar negotiations with resale chains), and one in which they didn’t. Given the media’s reaction, they went with the physical media pitch for their presentation, and underscored the need to have an offline mode. But that’s just rumor.

I could speak for hours for my perspective as to how Xbox got into that position in the first place, but at the end of the day all of that was above my paygrade.

What’s not rumor, but also not much I can speak to externally, is just how much the organization had bet big behind this innovative primary-online experience. There’s a lot of work that has to be done at the OS level, and if you can guarantee consoles are going to be online when they boot up you have critical extra months for polish.

Now imagine how many features have to be cut, and how much overtime required, just to make the ship date, when you announce it’s no longer “always online, always connected” 3 months before Release To Manufacturing lockdown (which is, itself, a significant number of months before the launch date you were targeting to have dashboard features polished). And it has to be rock solid, because any security issues in offline launch hardware can an will be exploited.

I’m amazed to this day the herculean effort demonstrated by the Xbox organization during one of the largest launch pivots I’ve witnessed… and it was effectively invisible to the rest of the world.

I laud anyone and everyone to hold us accountable, absolutely!

I again request details for customers that have had a bad experience getting a return for Cyberpunk 2077. I’m not in service, but I do work in a AAA studio at Microsoft and may be able to raise visibility to identify the underlying issue. I’ll reiterate that, from my reading, nearly everyone had been able to get a refund after requesting one (I’m guessing the ones that didn’t likely played a significant portion of the game). But I want to challenge my understanding, as it seems you have different sources.

Opinions and anecdotes my own, and not necessarily those of my empoyer.

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