Games industry veteran Rami Ismail has outlined the certification process as it relates to Cyberpunk 2077, providing an explanation as to why Microsoft and Sony shouldn't be blamed for the game's poor performance on Xbox One and PS4. This topic came up recently due to a statement from a CD Projekt representative, in which they implied that Cyberpunk 2077's certification submission passed Microsoft's and Sony's requirements because the platform holders assumed that CD Projekt Red would iron out the issues ahead of launch.
The statement in question comes courtesy of an emergency conference call CD Projekt Red held yesterday with its investors. During said call, studio Board Member and SVP of Development Michał Nowakowski fielded a question regarding the certification process. He followed up with a response that indicated the platform holders pushed Cyberpunk 2077 through Certification because "they trusted that we’re going to fix things upon release." Whether or not CDPR purposefully misled Microsoft and Sony remains up for debate, but there's nothing to suggest that console manufacturers are responsible for buggy games, Cyberpunk 2077 included.
Industry veteran Rami Ismail recently explained why on Twitter (thanks, PlayStation Lifestyle). In a lengthy thread, which couldn't go into too many specifics due to prohibiting industry contracts, Ismail explains what Certification (Cert) involves. Cert, Ismail clarified, does not guarantee games are of a high quality or void of glitches. Rather, Cert is a process that "ensures games do not brick [consoles] or disable critical functionality." When a developer submits a game through this process, Microsoft and Sony look for issues that guarantee the title won't break trademarks and so on. Ismail provided a few examples in a subsequent tweet, explaining, "Certification is stuff like 'don't render critical stuff off-screen,' 'display warnings if your internet connection is lost.'" It does not check for texture pop-ins, randomly floating objects, or bizarre driving glitches. Thus, a game passes Certification when it meets a long list of criteria, even if it's riddled with immersion-breaking glitches.
Ismail's informative thread clears up plenty of confusion, much of which was, admittedly, brought about by the statements made in CD Projekt RED's recent conference call. Now it's clear where responsibility for Cyberpunk 2077's lackluster launch falls. These missteps weren't because of any faults on the part of Microsoft or Sony, and public misunderstanding about what game certification even is has complicated the discussion around the game. Truth be told, developers themselves can't be held accountable, either. The blame falls at the feet of whomever decided to publish and roll out a product that executives at CD Projekt knew wasn't ready for launch on certain platforms.
Fortunately, players can begin to expect fixes in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Cyberpunk 2077's next patch should go live sometime this week, the studio told users in an apology post on Twitter. A larger update is on track to release in January, followed by another big patch on an unspecified date in February.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia, and it will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021.
Source: Rami Ismail