Valve’s Gabe Newell says its “unfair to throw stones” at CD Projekt Red over Cyberpunk 2077
Valve CEO Gabe Newell has made a few interesting comments regarding the recent release of Cyberpunk 2077 and its developer CD Projekt Red.
Interviewed by New Zealand’s TVNZ, the games industry icon made a handful of sympathetic comments towards the Polish studio, while also opening up about the tough reality of developing games in the pandemic on any scale.
“I have a lot of sympathy with a situation that every game developer finds themselves in,” he said. “All I know is that there are a lot of very happy gamers in the PC space, which are the ones that are most visible to us.”
“It’s unfair to throw stones at any other developer, because just getting something as complex and ambitious as that out the door is pretty amazing,” Newell continues.
Related: Best PS5 Games
He also remarked on the fallout following Cyberpunk 2077’s release, such as Sony pulling the title from the PlayStation Store and offering direct refunds alongside Microsoft. At the time of writing, it still can’t be bought digitally on PS4 or PS5.
“People get mad because they care,” Newell said. “When people have those kinds of reactions, my first thought is that this is an opportunity for us, and I assume that the Cyberpunk 2077 developers are similarly just using it to crank through and make improvements that are going to be beneficial to their customers. They have a long history of doing a great job, of continuing to invest in their products over time and I suspect that they’re going to be very good at making their customers happy over time.”
CD Projekt Red has already committed itself to making major changes and refinements to Cyberpunk 2077 in the coming months. This will begin with a trio of massive updates for the console versions, which aim to address a slew of performance and technical problems with the game. A dedicated upgrade for next-gen consoles alongside free downloadable content will follow later in the year.
Earning 4/5 in my review, Cyberpunk 2077 is an excellent RPG in many ways, but is brought down by some shallow gameplay systems and misogynistic writing. It has the potential to be something truly special, and hopefully the years to come will see such a vision come to fruition.
Are you still playing Cyberpunk 2077, or waiting for things to be patched up? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter @trustedreviews.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
