Update: A statement from CD Projekt Red confirms the removal of Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and notes that physical copies will remain available. Cyberpunk 2077 will continue to receive updates on PlayStation 4.
After a week of ever-growing chaos surrounding the console launch of Cyberpunk 2077, Sony has announced that it's removing the game from the PlayStation Store and issuing refunds to everyone who purchased it digitally. CD Projekt Red's open-world sandbox was announced early on in the PlayStation 4 generation as a game for that console but quickly ballooned into a near-next-gen experience over the course of development. On PC, the game has run consistently, although not perfectly. However, the same experience is nigh-unattainable on consoles, with many players sharing footage of broken visuals, crashes to the dashboard, and other hallmarks of what is basically a broken experience.
Quickly after launch, CD Projekt Red issued a public apology for the state of Cyberpunk 2077, admitting that the console release of the game didn't get the same attention as the PC version. Many bought the game anyway because reviewers and influencers pre-release didn't get their hands on the console version, leading to inflated scores that seemed by design from the game's developers. The company also issued a blanket statement saying that it was giving Cyberpunk 2077 refunds to dissatisfied customers, but failed to talk with its retail partners and other platform holders to actually make those refunds possible. This led to a flood of already angry gamers being denied the rebate they were promised, which escalated into its own controversy.
Earlier today, Sony put an effective cap on a week of chaos by removing Cyberpunk 2077 from its digital storefront and offering full refunds to every customer who purchased the game there. In several tweets that went out after the game was pulled, Sony stated that it wanted to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction and that this hasn't been met with Cyberpunk 2077. Customers looking for a refund can now follow a simple online procedure to start the process. As of the time of writing, the game is still available on the Xbox Store, and Microsoft has not issued a statement on if it also plans to remove the game Cyberpunk 2077 is patched to a satisfactory level.
A platform holder removing a game with this level of marketing and hype behind it is an unprecedented move. One would have to go back to the Steam release of Batman: Arkham Knight to find something even remotely similar, and that game was removed by the publisher rather than Valve. That case also didn't involve physical copies of the game, which are out there in the case of Cyberpunk 2077's PlayStation 4 release. There's no word on if the game will also be pulled from shelves, and how that could affect the pipeline for patches and future content on CD Projekt Red's end.
The higher-ups at CD Projekt Red knew what they were doing when they released Cyberpunk 2077's console ports in the state that they were in, and they're now paying the price. One's heart goes out to the developers all the way down the ladder who worked tirelessly for years on this project only to see its launch tainted by a historically misguided series of events. Cyberpunk 2077 still has bright spots, but the vast majority of players can't experience that now, and that's up to the decision to just push ahead regardless of common sense. It's a pity, but there's no putting the genie back in the bottle for this one.
Source: PlayStation