10 Lies Video Games Could Never Recover From

CD Projekt Red first announced what would ultimately become an open-world game set in a futuristic dystopia back in 2012. It had all the staples of a solid cyberpunk theme and after their success with The Witcher 3, CDPR was a darling of the industry. People believed that they could do not wrong.

After several missed milestones, some caused by several major developmental shifts, Cyberpunk 2077 finally came out in 2020. It was the perfect recipe for success: Beloved company, a genre that wasn’t over-saturated, multiple ways to play, and a terrifying virus had forced everyone to lock themselves at home.

And that’s where things went wrong. Apparently 500 people working for nearly a decade wasn’t enough.

Though the game still sold incredibly well, it was not as wildly as was expected, largely due to the game being almost unplayable for many. Game-breaking bugs, genitalia clipping through clothes, and a journalist suffering a grand mal seizure made many swear off the game.

The release was considered so disastrous, Steam and Gamestop had to create new return policy loopholes to keep angry fans sated. Said to have 'dangerously underperformed', it damaged CDPR's reputation so badly that the company's stock plummeted by upwards of $1 billion and they were hit with lawsuits by investors and even a government investigation.

How dangerously underperforming was Cyberpunk 2077? Leading up to release analysts expected it to sell 30 million copies within the first year, but it actually sold 13 million in that timeframe. Less than half.

At least the tie-in anime, Edgerunners, was awesome.