After Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed yet again, until December 10, senior developer at CD Projekt RED, Andzej Zawadzki, revealed that members of the team had been receiving death threats.
[jwplayer 91I9RIGm]
As anyone following the gaming scene knows, Cyberpunk 2077 has become 2020’s most talked-about title. There are several reasons for this: the game’s beautifully crafted dystopian world, the cast of Hollywood stars like Keanu Reeves, but mainly discussion centers around the fact that the game is constantly being delayed.
The most recent delay is officially the fourth in the game’s development, with CD Projekt Red pushing the release back until December 10.
While the hype around the game is still there, this announcement has become one step too many for a lot of Cyberpunk fans, and has unleashed a wealth of backlash upon the game’s developers: including death threats.
CDPR dev calls out death threats
While a vast majority of fans simply vented their disappointment and anger on Twitter in response to the announcement, some fans were so upset to even send the developers death threats.
Senior developer Andrzej Zawadzki released a plea on Twitter which asked fans to remember that the death threats they are sending are being received by real people behind the computer screens.
“I understand you’re feeling angry… However, sending death threats to developers is absolutely unacceptable and just wrong,” the senior game designer wrote.
https://twitter.com/ZawAndy/status/1321201463545204737
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On October 28, the developer tweeted out again, this time sharing a screenshot with an example of a message he’d received from a tilted fan over the game’s delay.
“This is one of the mildest messages some of us got. There were far, FAR worse. Every single one is being reported. We will not let it go through,” he said. “Do not treat it lightly. Do not ignore it. It is serious.”
The messages he shared claimed the user knew where he lived, and that he would be “finished” if they didn’t release Cyberpunk on time. Zawadzki’s family were also threatened.
https://twitter.com/ZawAndy/status/1321441240630657024
The response from fans was generally receptive, as while many acknowledged that the game’s delay caused irritation, death threats are a step in the completely wrong direction.
Fans are already holding CD Projekt Red accountable, but sending such vitriol to the developers is never acceptable. Death threats are never the answer to problems – in reality, they just create more. So while anger over the game’s delay is understandable, it’s likely also out of the control of individual developers.
All that’s left to do is hold our breaths that we see Cyberpunk 2077 sometime in 2020.
