The launch of Cyberpunk 2077, described by PC Gamer online editor Fraser Brown as “one of the most high-profile launch flops in video game history,” was a truly terrible time. After years of heavy publicity, “CP2077” was released with technical problems and bugs on all platforms, and on PlayStation it was so bad that Sony took the unprecedented step of removing the game from its store.

CD Projekt Red, beloved and much-loved for its “The Witcher” series, found itself in the new position of being criticized from all sides. Given the length of the game's development cycle, many of the staff had been brooding over this for years, and whether or not the blowback was deserved, the exposure to the hurricane's eye must have been devastating.

Pawel Sasko, director of Cyberpunk 2 and Phantom Liberty, was recently interviewed on the podcast Flow Games (discovered by GR+) and reflected on this period, saying that the response was “an absolute blow” for the development team

“The response was an absolute blow” to the development team, he said.

“I know what success feels like because I've already shipped games that really matter,” said Sasko, a quest designer on The Witcher 3.

“And I have members on my team who have never experienced it before. For me, probably the worst aspect was seeing people on the team crushed by it: ...... We were, in general, really badly affected.”

Still, CDPR decided that in addition to confronting the immediate problems, they needed to eventually get “Cyberpunk 2077” to a place where players would be happier. Sasko calls the initial patches 1.2 and 1.3 “stepping stones” focused on fixing “a lot” of technical problems Sasko calls the early patches 1.2 and 1.3 “stepping stones” focused on fixing “a lot” of technical problems. By the time of 1.5, Sasko was beginning to feel that things were turning around, but audience feedback still seemed to be praising the developers for finishing “seventh in the marathon.

“It's weird.

Oddly enough, Sasko feels that the decision to tie the 1.6 update to the release of Netflix's animated cyberpunk “Edgerunners” made the biggest difference. According to Sasco, this was a better introduction point to the wider cyberpunk world than the game itself, and “tipped the scales” with viewers who became interested in checking out the many improvements made by CDPR.

The rise in general sentiment and the momentum that CDPR had built up to “Phantom Liberty” changed the mood of the developers, Sasco said. The director recalls that after the initial reception, he felt that the long road to getting there and the development of Phantom Liberty itself had become “like our group therapy.”

The 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty expansion complete Cyberpunk 2077's redemption arc, and the game is currently indulging in “overwhelmingly positive” reviews on Steam. Sasko said in another recent interview, “None of this would have been possible if the initial reviews for the game hadn't been so negative.” 'It changed me and us as a studio.'

No matter how much the game and the studio's internal processes have improved since then, it should be said that “Cyberpunk 2077” truly deserved its reputation at launch. This is because CDPR has since reorganized internally and spent years shaping “CP2077” into what it should be, hopefully not raising as many expectations for the next installment. That's the big picture, but if you were one of the hundreds of CDPR foot soldiers who watched their babies being torn to shreds by the Internet, there is no doubt that these were truly terrible times.