CD Projekt Red is best known for the critically lauded Witcher franchise. This reputation, coupled with the eight additional months in delays for development, caused high expectations for Cyberpunk 2077’s performance and, as a result, criticism from fans who felt the game’s bugs were unacceptable.

Many reviewers of Cyberpunk 2077 did report smooth gameplay in their write-ups of the title. However, CD Projekt Red required potential reviewers to sign a non-disclosure agreement which prohibited showing footage captured during their playthrough in an official review.

“We would like to start by apologizing to you for not showing the game on base last-gen consoles before it premiered and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase,” CD Projekt Red said in its statement on Monday. “We should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.”

In acknowledging the game’s many issues on last-gen consoles — and its own blind spot in developing for those platforms — CD Projekt Red may have signaled a new industry standard for communication between developers and community. There is no precedent for a developer accepting culpability for its product’s perceived failure, despite similar issues plaguing other major game releases in recent years, such as BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda (2017), Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky (2016) and EA’s Madden NFL 21 — though EA’s Anthem reportedly offered refunds to some PS4 users in 2019, though developer BioWare has never offered an official statement.

The closest example to Cyberpunk’s refund policy can be found in Destiny 2’s DLC Curse of Osiris back in 2017. After the update, a final raid became inaccessible to players beneath a certain level. Bungie issued an apology to its fans, explaining why it had initially designed the game that way and promising fans it was rectifying the situation. No monetary recompense was offered, however.

While there may not be a precedent for refunds from other studios, Projekt Red’s online storefront GOG did implement a refund policy in February. The policy allows players to request a refund for any game within the first 30 days of purchase, regardless of hours played. The previous guidelines only allowed refunds in the first 30 days if the game was unopened and unplayed.

Steam, Valve’s online storefront and GOG’s competitor, has a similar policy which allows a refund for any game within 14 days of purchase as long as the player has logged under two hours of gametime.

Following the announcement of the Cyberpunk refund policy on Monday, fans have taken up the offer from the studio. Some PS4 users, however, have reported Sony will not provide Cyberpunk 2077 refunds if the game has been played. Requests for comment from Sony were not immediately returned.

Similar issues have been reported by Xbox One users. Microsoft did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

For gamers who choose to stay in Night City, CD Projekt Red has promised a batch of updates to be released over the next seven days. There will also be two large patch updates in the new year — patch one currently scheduled for January, patch two for February. The PC version of the game is also reported to have several updates on the way.

Despite the issues, Cyberpunk 2077 has gotten off to a hot start, selling more than 8 million pre-orders and already recouping development costs for CD Projekt Red. Its bugs, however, have highlighted issues with the studio's game development system itself, swaying to high audience expectations and releasing a game well before it was ready. If $59.99 and an apology from top developers are enough to retain a fanbase, it could mean big change for the industry in terms of how game studios relate to their consumers.

Photo courtesy of CD Projekt Red