Despite its disastrous launch, new statistics have revealed that Cyberpunk 2077 has risen to the top as one of the most played and sold games on Valve's Steam storefront in 2021. Cyberpunk 2077 received an influx of positive reviews on Steam in the last month, with players blurring out its numerous issues and giving the maligned title a fair shot after continued support from its developers. With almost 20,000 recent reviews due to holiday sales, the title now sits on "Mostly Positive" on the storefront and those numbers are expected to grow in 2022 as new updates are released.
Cyberpunk 2077 was released in late 2020 and quickly became one of the most controversial releases in recent video game history after launching with an abundance of serious bugs, low frame rates, and blurry textures that chipped away its performance on multiple platforms. Being possibly the most broken AAA game to ever hit shelves, both PlayStation and Xbox provided players refunds for the title a month after its release, and PlayStation even went as far as to temporarily remove Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store after severe backlash and ceaseless refund inquiries. Since then, CD Projekt Red has made revitalizing the maligned title a top priority, releasing several patches throughout 2021 and delaying Cyberpunk 2077's next-gen versions until next year.
A year after its release, it appears that CD Projekt Red's promise to mend Cyberpunk 2077 into its envisioned form is proving to be true, as new statistics on Steam reveal that Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most played and sold games on Steam despite its controversial release. Posted in the Best of Steam 2021 on Valve's storefront, via (Kotaku) Cyberpunk 2077 can be seen in both the "Top Sellers" and "Most Played" sections of the store's public statistics. While obviously not making the "Platinium" cut as this tier is multiplayer-heavy, it looks like the title made it to "Silver" where several other 2021 titles like Resident Evil: Village and Age of Empires IV appear. What's shocking however is that Cyberpunk 2077 can be seen at the top of the list in the "Most Played," peaking at over 200,000 players within 2021, despite being a single-player game.
In a recent statement, the CEO of CD Project Red Adam Kiciński reaffirmed the studio's belief in Cyberpunk 2077 even with its ongoing issues and negative acclaim. Interestingly, Kiciński claims that Cyberpunk 2077 will be perceived as a good game and sell for years, despite its original rocky launch and infamous history. The head suggests that the game would be labeled "good" due to the brand awareness being large and consoles getting more powerful over time for better updates and not because of its gameplay and story, leaving its future uncertain.
Although breaking records in 2021, CD Projekt Red's first-person sci-fi sandbox still has a long way to go before its disastrous launch can be redeemed and break the bar set by the studio's universally acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. How well Cyberpunk 2077 will be perceived in the future is unknown, but the addition of even more quality-of-life updates in 2022 could vindicate the title.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now across Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.