‘Death Threats Unacceptable’: Game Developer on Backlash Over Cyberpunk 2077 Delay

Polish games developer CD Projekt faced a backlash on Wednesday after announcing it would be delaying the release of hotly-anticipated PC and console game Cyberpunk 2077 for a third time.

The company's share price was down 5.25 percent by 1000 GMT on the Warsaw Stock Exchange after Tuesday's statement that it could not meet the November 19 deadline and would have to postpone until December 10.

Gamers also vented their frustration online, with some saying they had booked time off work to be able to play the game as soon as it came out and one user joking: "What if they kept delaying it until 2077?"

An account in the name of Andrzej Zawadzki, a senior games designer at CD Projekt, responded to the negative comments saying: "I understand you're feeling angry, disappointed and want to voice your opinion about it.

"However, sending death threats to the developers is absolutely unacceptable and just wrong. We are people, just like you," he wrote.

In September, the company reportedly instituted a six-day working week to meet the November deadline, saying employees would be paid more for the extra effort.

Delays are becoming increasingly frequent in the gaming industry as games get bigger, more expensive and with more people involved.

This year, the coronavirus pandemic has complicated things further, with many studios forced to operate with developers working from home. 

Two other big delays in 2020 have been Final Fantasy VII Remake by Square Enix and Sony's The Last of Us Part II.

Set to immerse players in a dystopian futuristic world, Cyberpunk 2077 is based on tabletop role-playing game Cyberpunk 2020.

It was first announced in 2012 but CD Projekt kept it on the back burner while developing the latest instalment of the popular The Witcher series, which has sold tens of millions of copies and seen a Netflix series released based on the same Polish fantasy novels.

Keanu Reeves, star of Hollywood blockbusters The Matrix and John Wick, has lent his voice and likeness to one of the main characters in Cyberpunk 2077.

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