Cyberpunk 2077 will release in a few days, finally ending years of anticipation for gamers hungry to get their hands on the next ambitious RPG from CD Projekt Red. However, over the years, information regarding the game's development cycle has come out, and not all of it is good. The road to Cyberpunk 2077 has been fraught with controversies on both a development and a public relations end, and the newest one comes from an unlikely place.
CD Projekt Red's quality assurance test lead Lukasz Babiel revealed that he has put a whopping 175 hours into Cyberpunk 2077 -- and still has yet to roll credits. Babiel has stated that he's been taking his time with the game, using stealth where possible and exploring each nook and cranny the game has to offer. Still, even if this is a "slower playthrough" of the game, the fact that the game is stretching close to (if not longer than) 200 hours is ridiculous.
The video game length debate has been a point of contention for gamers for a long time. Everyone wants to have a good "bang for their buck" when making an investment, especially in video games. With the gaming industry slowly shifting the average AAA game price to $70, people want to make sure a game is worth the cost of entry and will last them a good amount of time.
Wanting value out of what you buy isn't an unreasonable request. Paying a significant amount of money out of pocket for entertainment is a luxury, and as such, you should feel fulfilled with your purchase. The problem is that many feel there is such a thing as too long when it comes to a video game's campaign. Most people have full-time jobs and/or school schedules to adhere to, making it difficult or impossible to spend hundreds of hours on a single title -- especially when there's also so much else out there to play. As a result, many players will abandon an expansive game before reaching its end credits.
Take, for example, CD Projekt Red's previous game The Witcher 3. According to its achievement and trophy statistics, only 15 percent of players finished it on Steam, fewer than 30 percent on PlayStation and around 40 percent on Xbox. This is one of the most critically and commercially successful video games of last generation, yet not even half those who've played it have seen its storyline through to the end.
Of course, expectations in this regard vary by genre. While major RPGs are expected to be massive, AAA shooters like Call of Duty have far shorter campaigns and low completion statistics. However, since most people buy those games for the multiplayer, there are few complaints about the campaign only taking roughly four hours to finish.
Still, Respawn's Titanfall 2 drew the ire of many gamers because of its five hour campaign. Despite the campaigns strengths and the game's robust multiplayer, EA's release strategy and negative word of mouth regarding its short but sweet campaign killed the game before it had a chance.
Perhaps no franchise encapsulates the "too long for its own good" mantra quite like Assassin's Creed. Even though Ubisoft has pumped the breaks on making Assassin's Creed an annual series, its often-ridiculed bloat of ceaseless, samey side quests and loot grinds have become a point of contention for many gamers.
Though it arguably started earlier, Assassin's Creed Unity is where this really became noticeable, as simply looking at its map instills a sense of dread over the seemingly infinite amount of repetitive side objectives and collectibles. While Assassin's Creed Valhalla promised to shake things up, player have found that it is largely the same in this regard.
Shorter games can also be total drags that leave a bitter taste in your mouth once they're finished. A prime example is the PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order 1886, which was maligned before release when a leak revealed that the campaign was only about four hours long. While a short length isn't an issue when the game is fun and replayable, The Order 1886 ended up being a sluggish, boring experience.
A game being long doesn't automatically make it good, and the opposite is also true. Although Cyberpunk 2077 is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious and detailed Western RPGs we've ever seen, it's worth being cautious going into it. Ultimately, gamers need to decide for themselves if it's worth it to spend their money on something that they may not see through to the end credits.