CD Projekt Red Confirms a “No Bullshit” Approach to Pricing for Cyberpunk 2077

Lou Contaldi November 19, 2017 10:08 AM EST

CD Projekt Red is (to many) the bastion of ethical, single-player camapigns in gaming, and that won't change with Cyberpunk 2077 according to them.

Love them or hate them, microtransactions and the concept of “games as a service” has dominated this year’s holiday season, much to the chagrin of Star Wars Battlefront II and Call of Duty: WWII for their fumbled foray into loot boxes. And while both Electronic Arts and Activision are often well-known for their pricing model and profit-driven agenda, Polish developer CD Projekt Red raised a few eyebrows when President of CD Projekt Red Adam Kiciński made a comment to Polish investment publication Strefa Inwestorów about the capitalization of their upcoming project, Cyberpunk 2077.

Seen in the Polish (English subtitles) video below, Kiciński hopes that Cyberpunk 2077 becomes “commercially even more significant,” smashing records that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt never could. To do this, Kiciński noted that they are looking to add an online because “online is necessary, or very recommended if you wish to achieve a long-term [sic] success.”

Although none of these statements are on their own worrying, gamers — who are feeling much more sensitive this season of unsavory business practices in the AAA development space — worried that this was indication that CD Projekt Red was forgoing their reputation of being a more ethically-minded publisher. Paired with recent reports that development for Cyberpunk 2077 has been “very intensive” and causing spikes in development costs, that fear may be understandable. Thankfully, CD Projekt Red confirmed via Tweet that was anything but true.

Seen below, the official CD Projekt Red Twitter account — responding to some internet outrage — said very clearly that capitalization for Cyberpunk 2077 will have “no hidden catch.” More succinctly, “you get what you pay for — no bullshit, just honest gaming like with [The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt].” Finally, the tweet sends a shot across the bow towards other studios: “We leave greed to others.”

These statements are, of course, refreshing — very few developers have the candor or opinions that CD Projekt Red carries, either in their PR or actual business model. And these are key reasons that gamers continue to support the studio, especially in the face of some extraordinary circumstances earlier this year.

Cyberpunk 2077 is currently planned for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, however no release date has been revealed.