If It’s Broken, Ship It
The Humane A.I. Pin and the culture of releasing stuff that doesn’t work
I’m a sporadic gamer — I play 3 or 4 games a year — but I recently played through Cyberpunk 2077. It’s set in a futuristic world of robotic body parts, headsets, high-tech gadgets, neon lights, and, of course, a heavy dose of the cyberpunk aesthetic.
It was enjoyable. (If you were hoping for an in-depth review, I’m not your guy). But I couldn’t get fully onboard with it. Back in 2020, I was eagerly awaiting the game’s release, only holding back for the reviews to double-check before purchasing. Then they hit the airwaves, and there was one small problem — the game was completely, utterly, outrageously broken. Reviews unanimously trashed every aspect of the game (once they were allowed to review the game due to tight embargoes. Early reviewers were also forced to use footage provided to them, which is never a good sign). The backlash was swift. Gamers felt the studio had swindled them, promising big and delivering very little. Sony quickly removed the game from the Playstation Store and offered refunds. The studio, CD Projekt Red, had to apologize and promised to do everything possible to repair the damage.
And credit to them, they did. Over 3 years later, the game is very playable today and resembles the original promise after a few…
