Cyberpunk 2077’s Game Awards 2023 Win Makes Little Sense

Cyberpunk 2077, despite being released three years ago, managed to snag a trophy at The Game Awards 2023. The unusual nomination of Cyberpunk 2077 for Best Ongoing Game certainly raised a few eyebrows, as the award is typically reserved for live-service games that receive a steady stream of updates, rather than full-priced, standard releases.

It’s no great secret that CD Projekt Red’s ambitious science-fiction RPG suffered from a difficult launch. Cyberpunk 2077 was nearly unplayable on last-generation consoles, with even higher-end PCs suffering from egregious bugs and performance issues, and many felt that the game was simply not what CDPR advertised, on top of being in an unacceptable state. This rough launch was the start of a three-year-long redemption story for the game, one that culminated in the recent 2.0 update and the well-received Phantom Liberty DLC. Indeed, many fans feel that Cyberpunk 2077 has been greatly enhanced, coming much closer to what gaming audiences were expecting in the lead-up to its 2020 release. The striking difference between Cyberpunk‘s launch state and its condition today, alongside its new DLC, was used as justification for its Best Ongoing Game nomination, an award that it would go on to win.

Best Ongoing Game Nominees at The Game Awards 2023

• Apex Legends
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Final Fantasy 14
• Fortnite
• Genshin Impact

Why Cyberpunk 2077’s Best Ongoing Game Win Is Problematic

Cyberpunk 2077’s Competitors Better Fit the Bill

Looking at the nominees for Best Ongoing Game, it’s clear that Cyberpunk 2077 is a bit of an odd duck. While it’s true that Cyberpunk 2077‘s continued updates have had a transformative effect on the game in some ways, it’s still a single-player game that was marketed and sold as a complete product. Almost all the other nominees, by comparison, are free-to-play games launched with the explicit expectation that they would be receiving regular updates and content expansions. The only other nominee that is a premium title is Final Fantasy 14, but even that game is an MMO—a genre that is defined by expansions, patches, and community support.

In light of these differences, Cyberpunk 2077‘s victory seems to run contrary to the intention behind the Best Ongoing Game award. Most of CD Projekt Red’s updates to Cyberpunk stemmed from a need to repair the game and earn back the goodwill that it lost as a company, not necessarily just to keep the game stocked with new content over time. This difference is exemplified by CD Projekt Red’s recent statements about moving on from Cyberpunk 2077, making its Best Ongoing Game win even more perplexing and ironic.

Cyberpunk 2077 Winning Best Ongoing Game Sets a Bad Precedent

It’s commendable that CD Projekt Red managed to improve Cyberpunk 2077 so much over the past three years, but the overwhelming majority of the game’s updates addressed bugs and quality-of-life features. Of course, some new content, like the reworked skill trees, new abilities, and the more recent arrival of the Metro to Cyberpunk 2077 are more substantive, but they don’t change the core of the game, nor do they serve as major content expansions similar to those found in Cyberpunk‘s fellow nominees. The most significant pieces of new content come through the Phantom Liberty DLC, which should not count toward a Best Ongoing Game nomination or award.

The closest parallel to Cyberpunk‘s victory this year can be found in 2020 when No Man’s Sky won the same award. However, No Man’s Sky‘s free content expansions were more frequent and revolutionary, and the game was far more akin to a live-service title when it won in 2020. Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t revolutionize itself with each of its updates, but rather it fixed what was broken and made the game what players were expecting when it launched three years ago – which is not to discredit the work CD Projekt Red poured into the game.

Cyberpunk 2077‘s victory opens the door to other games winning Best Ongoing Game simply for releasing numerous patches post-release, potentially awarding games for launching in a poor state, then greatly improving over time, rather than launching in a good state and continuing to be polished. Cyberpunk 2077 deserves praise, but it wasn’t the most logical choice for Best Ongoing Game.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is an RPG set in a future dystopian world. Players take up the role of V, who works as a mercenary in Night City in California. Gameplay involves branching dialogue, open-world exploration, character classes, and combat.

Released

December 10, 2020

Engine

REDengine 4

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

How Long To Beat

25 Hours

Metascore

75

PS Plus Availability

N/A