In the action RPG Cyberpunk 2077, there are currently discussions about microtransactions. However, this shouldn’t be the case if some press websites had paid proper attention. This is also being criticized by the game’s developers.
What happened? In a financial discussion, CD Projekt Red’s president, Adam Kicinski, reported on microtransactions in Cyberpunk 2077. These purchasable contents, for example in the form of skins for gear or costumes, are supposed to exist and be fair:
The goal is to design monetization in a way that people enjoy spending money. And no, I’m not being cynical. I’m not trying to hide anything. It’s about conveying a sense of value, always.
This applies to our base games, our single-player games. We want players to be happy while spending money on our products. The same goes for microtransactions. So yes, you can certainly expect these, and Cyberpunk 2077 is a great framework to sell things, but it will not be aggressive. It will not annoy players, but rather make them happy. That’s at least our goal.
Adam Kicinski in the Earnings Call
Following this statement, several articles appeared in the gaming press discussing the microtransactions in Cyberpunk 2077. An old tweet was also dug up, stating that this RPG was not supposed to have any at all.
Some even saw this as a broken promise from CD Projekt Red.
What is the problem? In October 2019, there was a livestream where the developers stated that Cyberpunk 2077 would definitely come without microtransactions in single-player.
When asked about multiplayer, Adam Kicinski responded more cautiously at that time, saying that everything would be taken into account (via PCGamesN).
- In this case, one could even look back to 2017 when the developers literally said: “You get what you pay for – no bullshit, just an honest game like with Wild Hunt. We leave greed to others.”
- In 2018, a trailer also discussed the topic of microtransactions, again with a clear statement: “In a single-player RPG? Are you crazy?”
This means that several websites reporting aggressively on microtransactions could have been avoided. Because they were always up for debate in multiplayer. This was communicated last year as well. For instance, our colleagues from GameStar reported about this in November 2019.
Cyberpunk complains about “clickbait”
How did the developers react? In a tweet, the team behind Cyberpunk 2077 stated that people should not fall for the clickbait. The RPG is still supposed to manage without microtransactions in single-player and avoid other tricks.
Instead, DLCs are planned, like in The Witcher 3, though this time there are supposed to be more DLCs. Some of them are also expected to be free again. No later than release on November 19 will there probably be an overview of the additional content.
Will the multiplayer be similar to GTA Online?
What we currently know about the multiplayer: For years, there has been speculation about what the multiplayer for Cyberpunk 2077 will look like or if it will even exist. Only in September 2019 was it officially confirmed and even labeled as “second AAA release.”
However, its release is still a long way off. The developers’ plan is to first release the single-player version and then expand it with DLCs. Even a release in 2021 was considered unlikely even before Corona.
Cyberpunk Online sounds much more like a project in the direction of GTA Online. Here too, a single-player version was released first without microtransactions. The online version is still regularly expanded with playable content and also with purchasable content for real money. However, there are still no exact details about the multiplayer of the action RPG.
Anyone who wants to try a Cyberpunk game with multiplayer can check out Mankind Reborn. This MMORPG is already in a playable alpha.
