Updated Jan. 19, 2021 to include lawsuit information in calendar. The blundered release of Cyberpunk 2077 was the perfect video game industry cherry on the 2020 sundae we were all served. Oddly, from a brand/marketing perspective the execution of rollout tactics is quite impressive. It’s probably difficult to hear, but the brand/marketing team nailed it. We’ve seen Cyberpunk 2077 sitting above an 80% awareness in the US since as early as 2016 on the most respected tracking charts. In our opinion, that's nothing short of remarkable.
The notable beat in the rollout is the Keanu Reeves reveal during the 2019 Microsoft press conference. Strategically, CD Project Red had to deliver something big to kick off pre-orders on a game that was announced in 2012. What's remarkable is the selection of Keanu Reeves. There are so many chefs in the kitchen in this type of decision and the selection of Keanu Reeves was a bullseye for elevating fan hunger for the game.
The main strategic issue we see with the rollout (outside of releasing a game that is broken for anyone on a PS4, Xbox One or PC that lacks the most recent hardware AND building the engine while building the game...a new engine was a key factor in the demise of Starbreeze), is releasing in the gap between old gen and new gen. First party (Sony/Microsoft) would never plan to have sufficient console inventory to last through Q1 of 2021, let alone through the end of 2020. They lean into scarcity to help drive a Christmas feeding frenzy. Releasing Cyberpunk 2077 in early December guarantees that virtually no one will be able to play the game on next generation. There is no world in which CD Project Red leadership didn't know the state of the console SKU prior to launch and they're a PC first company, so why commit harakiri?
Below are the calendared rollout beats for reference. Cyberpunk 2077 has become quite buzz-worthy so this Retrospect calendar extends beyond key strategic launch beats to include select 'pre' and 'post' launch news.
ROLLOUT OVERVIEW
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