Microsoft loosens its Xbox refund policy for 'Cyberpunk 2077'

[Cal Jeffrey]

Editor's take: Not since No Man's Sky's release can I recall seeing a game more overhyped and underdelivered than Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt Red made many mistakes in the months and years before launch. It has hurt the developer's reputation, stock value, and ultimately its pocketbook.

The hot mess that is the Cyberpunk 2077 launch keeps getting worse for CD Projekt Red. Late yesterday in an unprecedented move, Sony pulled the game from the PlayStation Store and offered players a no-questions-asked refund option.

On Friday, Microsoft followed Sony's lead by expanding its refund policy for Cyberpunk 2077, albeit without removing the game from its store. Xbox Support issued a statement via Twitter explaining the decision.

Cyberpunk 2077: To ensure that every player can get the experience they expect on Xbox, we will be expanding our existing refund policy to offer full refunds to anyone who purchased Cyberpunk 2077 digitally from the Microsoft Store, until further notice. https://t.co/04TcniwVzy

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) December 18, 2020

To date, we have granted refunds to the vast majority of customers who have requested one. To request an Xbox refund for Cyberpunk 2077, please follow the steps listed on our Xbox refund page here: https://t.co/04TcniwVzy

— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport) December 18, 2020

Microsoft's and Sony's generous refund exceptions and the game's removal from a major marketplace is a massive blow to CDPR that sent its stock plummeting nearly 20 percent when the market opened Friday. As of this writing, it has recovered slightly from this morning's low of $17.88 per share to $18.81 but is still nowhere near its record high of $31 that it enjoyed just before Cyberpunk's release.

Sony said the game ban was "until further notice," meaning it will return Cyberpunk to its digital shelves once CDPR has it running smoothly on first-generation PlayStation 4 consoles. When that will be remains in question. The developers project that they will have all major bugs ironed out by February 2021.

To its credit, CD Projekt Red has pulled its work out of the fire in the past. Despite being a bit of a mess on release, CDPR saved The Witcher 3 with several post-launch updates and patches. The game went on to become the Game of the Year in 2015. The main difference between then and now being that no digital storefronts removed TW3 from their catalog.

For CD Projekt Red to succeed as it did with The Witcher 3, it's looking at what basically will amount to a full relaunch of the game on last-gen consoles. It will have to resubmit it to the PlayStation Store and convince the many disgruntled fans who sought refunds that Cyberpunk 2077 is worth giving a second chance. If it pulls it off, it will likely go down as the biggest comeback since Hello Games redeemed No Man's Sky.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/88031-microsoft-loosens-xbox-refund-policy-cyberpunk-2077.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Damn shame how this game release turned out.

I’m thankful I was able to enjoy it however.

 

[reqon]

Same I just finished the game and completed every side quest{story telling was solid gold}- game is legendary in view cant wait for the DLCs

 

[ZackL04]

Uphill battle for sure here.

I think the first gen ps4 and xbox are going to be a tough task to get playability out of.

I think those jaguar cores are the biggest issue for sure. GPU scaling is not as much an issue, hell I can play some new games on my integrated i7 9700k graphics

 

[Irata]

Uphill battle for sure here.

I think the first gen ps4 and xbox are going to be a tough task to get playability out of.

I think those jaguar cores are the biggest issue for sure. GPU scaling is not as much an issue, hell I can play some new games on my integrated i7 9700k graphics

So there are no great and visually impressive games for the original PS4 then ?

I am also curious which new games you can run on your 9700k‘s iGPU with good frame rates. Especially curious about the resolution. Here are some games Anandtech tested two years ago and the results don‘t look very good:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13400/intel-9th-gen-core-i9-9900k-i7-9700k-i5-9600k-review/20

 

[terzaerian]

PCs get a bad port and nobody bats an eye

Consoles get a bad port and everybody loses their minds

 

[Nobina]

PCs get a bad port and nobody bats an eye

Consoles get a bad port and everybody loses their minds

All I've heard is people complaining about bad PC ports but rightfully so, it has a lot of 'em.

Enjoy your shiny new graphics in a game that barely works.

 

[terzaerian]

All I've heard is people complaining about bad PC ports but rightfully so, it has a lot of 'em.

Enjoy your shiny new graphics in a game that barely works.

I'm waiting until it goes on sale

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Uphill battle for sure here.

I think the first gen ps4 and xbox are going to be a tough task to get playability out of.

I think those jaguar cores are the biggest issue for sure. GPU scaling is not as much an issue, hell I can play some new games on my integrated i7 9700k graphics

So how do games like RDR2 exist on the ps4 then? GTA V? CP2077 doesn't look all that great compared to those, and it's AI is practically brain dead, with empty streets and dead sidewalks. Hell how about the witcher 3?

People need to stop this "old consoles held the game back" BS. This game was started before the launch of the ps4 pro. They knew what hardware they were working with. The fact the game doesn't run well at all is a major slap of egg on CDPRs face, as apparently they just assumed everyone would use a PS5 to play this ps4 game and didn't bother optimizing anything.

 

[amghwk]

So how do games like RDR2 exist on the ps4 then? GTA V? CP2077 doesn't look all that great compared to those, and it's AI is practically brain dead, with empty streets and dead sidewalks. Hell how about the witcher 3?

People need to stop this "old consoles held the game back" BS. This game was started before the launch of the ps4 pro. They knew what hardware they were working with. The fact the game doesn't run well at all is a major slap of egg on CDPRs face, as apparently they just assumed everyone would use a PS5 to play this ps4 game and didn't bother optimizing anything.

True.

CDPR knew it will be bad on previous gen consoles, which they initially started work on, to begin with years ago. Yet CDPR still released it on them.

I guess some half-baked directorial direction change in the middle messed up.

As always, an over-hyped game is never a good thing.

Meanwhile, I'm amused by the comments of rabid hardcore CDPR fans and backlash-fearing reviewers praising the game despite it's flaws. 7/10 is more like it. If it was not for the CDPR's reputation and egotist fans, the game would have got a 5 or 6 out of 10. Games with bugs at launch usually received poor reviews.

Clearly an unfinished game, but released to avoid further backlash and death threats.


(Continues munching popcorn.)

 

[ZackL04]

So how do games like RDR2 exist on the ps4 then? GTA V? CP2077 doesn't look all that great compared to those, and it's AI is practically brain dead, with empty streets and dead sidewalks. Hell how about the witcher 3?

People need to stop this "old consoles held the game back" BS. This game was started before the launch of the ps4 pro. They knew what hardware they were working with. The fact the game doesn't run well at all is a major slap of egg on CDPRs face, as apparently they just assumed everyone would use a PS5 to play this ps4 game and didn't bother optimizing anything.

Im speaking specifically to this game vs the first gen hardware. As like, its going to take major modifications to get their game back on the ps marketplace

 

[ZackL04]

So there are no great and visually impressive games for the original PS4 then ?

I am also curious which new games you can run on your 9700k‘s iGPU with good frame rates. Especially curious about the resolution. Here are some games Anandtech tested two years ago and the results don‘t look very good:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13400/intel-9th-gen-core-i9-9900k-i7-9700k-i5-9600k-review/20

oh I agree, Im just saying this game in particular is doomed without a major engine change. They have obviously created a resource hog, similar to how Watch Dogs first performed

 

[yRaz]

2077 is an odd beast on my PC for sure, it seems to be accumulating bugs the longer I play it and I'm on my second playthrough.

My first 30hours were relatively bug free but now I'm on the 60 hour mark textures are disappearing, NPCs are flying around or straight up disappearing. I had one mission where all the NPCs were invisible aside from their guns. I was just being killed by floating guns.

When the game works it's one of the best games I've ever played, the problem is getting it to work. I have to save and restart atleast once an hour due to bugs and that's if it doesn't crash before that.

 

[terzaerian]

2077 is an odd beast on my PC for sure, it seems to be accumulating bugs the longer I play it and I'm on my second playthrough.

My first 30hours were relatively big free but now I'm on the 60 hour market textures are disappearing, NPCs are flying around or straight up disappearing. I had one mission where all the NPCs were invisible aside from their guns. I was just being killed by floating guns.

When the game works it's one of the best games I've ever played, the problem is getting it to work. I have to save and restart atleast once an hour due to bugs and that's of it doesn't crash before that.

People are saying that they got the Andromeda devs to help finish the game, but are they SURE they didn't slip in some Bethesda devs?

 

[fps4ever]

2077 is an odd beast on my PC for sure, it seems to be accumulating bugs the longer I play it and I'm on my second playthrough.

My first 30hours were relatively big free but now I'm on the 60 hour market textures are disappearing, NPCs are flying around or straight up disappearing. I had one mission where all the NPCs were invisible aside from their guns. I was just being killed by floating guns.

When the game works it's one of the best games I've ever played, the problem is getting it to work. I have to save and restart atleast once an hour due to bugs and that's of it doesn't crash before that.

I hear that more and more from players. When you can overlook the bugs and graphical glitches they enjoy it. Sounds like a great game to buy next spring LOL.

 

[TomSEA]

I hear that more and more from players. When you can overlook the bugs and graphical glitches they enjoy it. Sounds like a great game to buy next spring LOL.

Heh..I'll wait until the next Christmas sale for this one.

 

[christiangeli]

This is quite common today that this sort of big game is full of bugs. Wait till it are on sale, and you never had a problem.

 

[Shadowboxer]

Can’t imagine what it’s like on a console. I find the game to be significantly worse in quality just by turning RT off!

 

[loki1944]

Tom Chick on quartertothree has a hilarious review of how mediocre this game is. Gave it a 2/5; that's a AAA score I haven't heard in a long time. Brutal 90s level review. Go woke go broke.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Damn shame how this game release turned out.

I’m thankful I was able to enjoy it however.

I'm enjoying it too on the PS4 Pro. About a week in and have not had too much trouble. On one mission where I was the passenger in a car, an NPC was driving to a combat location, Every time I died the game loaded me into the driver's seat INSIDE the driver. I could not see through her hair. Not game-breaking at all be because she is still driving so everything is passive until you get to the combat zone. It's actually kinda funny since I sort of did want to "get inside that particular NPC." ROFL

The worst of my problems have been semi-frequent crashes. Maybe one crash for every 4-5 hours of play. Pretty random, but seems to happen more after the game has been suspended either because the PS4 was in sleep mode or after I was watching Netflix or something. Usually only crashes shortly after loading a save.

There are a few other minor quirks--NPCs standing inside solid objects (only once so far), NPC passengers in your car floating about the seat when they get in with their heads through the roof until finally plopping down into the seat proper a few seconds (a few times), Your parked car in a slope, but the car is level so the front wheels (or rear I suppose, but it's only happened once) are off the ground, Various bugs in the menu/inventory. Very minor issues so far. The frame rate is fine, not super, some times there is an occasional stutter but it's always very brief. Have not had any problems with textures not loading.

EDIT: Oh yes. I forgot to mention a bug with text messages pertaining to quests. On most of the texts that involve texting with an NPC, the messages do not appear in the right order. Even though it's not really game-breaking, I do find it particularly annoying, especially considering that the routines for displaying these messages should be quite simple. There really is no excuse for this bug.

Just downloaded and installed another patch last night and will see if it has any effect on my experience. I suspect it won't because CDPR is probably focusing on getting the issues with standard PS4s ironed out first, but who knows, some of those fixes might improve performance on the Pro and get rid of some of the bugs I have seen.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I'm enjoying it too on the PS4 Pro. About a week in and have not had too much trouble. On one mission where I was the passenger in a car, an NPC was driving to a combat location, Every time I died the game loaded me into the driver's seat INSIDE the driver. I could not see through her hair. Not game-breaking at all be because she is still driving so everything is passive until you get to the combat zone. It's actually kinda funny since I sort of did want to "get inside that particular NPC." ROFL

The worst of my problems have been semi-frequent crashes. Maybe one crash for every 4-5 hours of play. Pretty random, but seems to happen more after the game has been suspended either because the PS4 was in sleep mode or after I was watching Netflix or something. Usually only crashes shortly after loading a save.

There are a few other minor quirks--NPCs standing inside solid objects (only once so far), NPC passengers in your car floating about the seat when they get in with their heads through the roof until finally plopping down into the seat proper a few seconds (a few times), Your parked car in a slope, but the car is level so the front wheels (or rear I suppose, but it's only happened once) are off the ground, Various bugs in the menu/inventory. Very minor issues so far. The frame rate is fine, not super, some times there is an occasional stutter but it's always very brief. Have not had any problems with textures not loading

Just downloaded and installed another patch last night and will see if it has any effect on my experience. I suspect it won't because CDPR is probably focusing on getting the issues with standard PS4s ironed out first, but who knows, some of those fixes might improve performance on the Pro and get rid of some of the bugs I have seen.

I think faster RAM, an SSD and obviously a better CPU and GPU will alleviate most problems.

 

[loki1944]

People are saying that they got the Andromeda devs to help finish the game, but are they SURE they didn't slip in some Bethesda devs?

Whoever's good at losing $1 billion in short order after launch.

 

[corrosive23]

Lol a bunch of people on twitter are surprised that refunding the game means it gets deleted from their account.

 

[Bulllee]

I get the impression from various reports that the Stadia platform came out of this debacle smelling of roses.
How or why I know not.