After many delays and even more anticipation, Cyberpunk 2077 finally hit shelves in December of 2020. Some time on, and we can look back at what was undoubtedly one of the most contentious video game launches of all time. On the one hand, if like us, you played on a decently powerful PC, you could have had a great time. On the other, if you were playing from a base PS4 or Xbox One, chances are that your experience was not quite so grand.
The issue on these systems, as many spectators have put it, is a matter of reach exceeding grasp. Cyberpunk 2077 is an extremely demanding game, and this puts a strain on the aging console systems. This has happened before in cross-generation gaming but it’s not always a guaranteed outcome. For a more positive illustration of cross-platform performance, there are many examples to choose from, but for simplicity’s sake, we want to use that of online bingo.
The Online bingo Ideal
When looking at online bingo games like those at bingo.betfair.com there are a lot to choose from. From Helter Skelter to Cash Cubes, Deal or No Deal, and more, the multitude of games here cover a wide range of themes and designs. They’re also, unlike Cyberpunk, games that run extremely well even on older systems.
A big part of this unquestionable ties into the relative simplicity of bingo compared to Cyberpunk, sure, but there is a bigger reason at play. This reason is an understanding of the greater context of the platforms owned by users. According to a report by cnbc.com, the average length of time a person used a phone before upgrading in 2016 was 22.7 months. By 2018, this had increased to 24.7 months.
For bingo developers, this gave a clear illustration of what range of devices they could cater to. They knew the range of power they had to work with, and because of this in combination with bingo’s streamlined gameplay, they could easily make an experience that works for everyone.
Cyberpunk’s Wrench
Throwing a wrench into Cyberpunk’s plans are the realities of how the console generations work. Mobile phones might cycle out every two years on average, but for base consoles, this time gap is much larger. The base PS4 launched back in 2013, and according to forbes.com, comes with an install base of nearly 110 million. Rather than having to cater to a 2-year or so technological gap between systems as mobiles do, this meant that the developer CD Projekt Red had to bridge the seven-year distance between the PS4 and PS5.
Essentially, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Should they cut down the experience and limit the game’s scope on advanced systems to make it run better on the larger install bases? Would a better idea be to look forward, and place their legacy in how the game will eventually be played, rather than how it was received straight away? At this point, we know they chose the latter option, but in reality, there were always going to be issues.
Hey Choombas! It’s Day 0 and thanks to you, #Cyberpunk2077 now holds the title for the most concurrent viewers for any single player game ever! AND it cracked the TOP 10 games of all time for most concurrent viewers. pic.twitter.com/jrEOkBOmAv
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 10, 2020
Online bingo, for all the platforms it reaches and the success it enjoys, has a clear leg up in these scenarios. Cyberpunk 2077, unfortunately, was born of a difficult industry and era. It might serve as a warning to developers going forward, and CD Projekt Red could still turn things around, but the damage might also already be done. It’s an interesting story, and this is just one of the considerations in a complex modern development environment. At the very least, this should help put cross-gen games in a better perspective. There are good reasons why bingo plays well on your old devices and Cyberpunk 2077 does not, and the reasons are deeper than we might first think.