After years of promising that Cyberpunk 2077 wouldn't include microtransactions, CD Projekt Red now says that applies only to the single-player portion. Starting development back in 2016, the next game from the makers of The Witcher 3 has been highly anticipated and oft-delayed, but one refrain has always been heard. In tweets dating back almost as far as the game's announcement, the developer promised that its new game would be free of microtransactions.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a project that's too big for a single release, and its developer decided early on to split work between a single-player narrative and some form of multiplayer. Details about the multiplayer have been hard to come by, as the developer want to focus attention on the single-player, which is coming much sooner. In fact, CD Projekt Red previously said that there would be such a significant gap between single-player and multiplayer for Cyberpunk 2077 that they would basically be separate games. Microtransactions make more sense in the world of multiplayer, as players are expected to spend significantly more time there than in even the longest single-player campaign, and CD Projekt Red is taking the split between the two releases very seriously.
In an earnings report published earlier this month, CD Projekt Red president Adam Kicinski confirmed that the multiplayer side of Cyberpunk 2077 will have microtransactions, but emphasized that the company "won't be aggressive" with their implementation. Kicinski said that the developer wants to create "a feeling of value" by tuning its microtransaction to make players "happy to spend money."
These quotes were widely reported online, leading the official Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter to tell fans not to "believe the clickbait." Emphasizing the difference between single-player and multiplayer, the tweets insist that multiplayer microtransactions were already revealed and that the single-player would not be touched by this financial model. As for what might be in those microtransactions, it's too early to tell, as the developer has not shared any details about the mode. CD Projekt Red previously announced plans to mirror its release schedule from The Witcher 3 with free DLC add-ons for the first year after Cyberpunk 2077's release and paid expansion packs later on down the line.
CD Projekt Red seems to have put itself in a tough spot regarding Cyberpunk 2077 and microtransactions. On the one hand, the studio has been held up by gamers the world over as a shining example that the old model of a single game for a single price still works. CD Projekt Red is using free DLC releases and other consumer-friendly tactics to stoke the flames of that fire and keep the Cyberpunk 2077 hype machine rolling on. On the other hand, the developer has spent untold millions on development. If it feels the need to recoup that cost, it has to find a way to squeeze some form of monetization in, no matter how angry it might make some players.
Cyberpunk 2077 releases on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 19th, 2020.
Source: CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077/Twitter