Cyberpunk 2077 – CD Projekt RED Not Afraid of Half-Life: Alyx Release

CD Projekt RED’s first person RPG Cyberpunk 2077 has been in the headlines lately. We’ve heard comments about the studio’s plans for multiplayer monetization (read: It’s too early to say) along with discussions for potentially releasing on Xbox Scarlett and PlayStation 5. A rather unlikely question came up during its recent earnings call: Is the studio concerned about Valve’s new Half-Life title which releases around the same time?

Half-Life: Alyx is out in March 2020 and will be exclusive to VR devices. As the first Half-Life title in over a decade, there’s quite a bit of hype riding on it. Are there any worries about both games coming out at the same time? Michal Andrzej Nowakowski, who is CD Projekt RED senior VP of business development, said there isn’t.

According to a transcript from Yahoo! Finance, Nowakowski said, “So, of course, we’ve seen the Half-Life PR announcement. I think it was a surprise for everybody, but I think not in a way you are suggesting. VR remains an extremely nichey niche of the market, like it’s very, very small. The only reason I can think of why has Valve has decided to actually put this title in the market is because they actually have a corporation on the hardware side of the things, and I assume that they actually are planning.

“This is probably a big effort for them to sort of try to expand that. That niche is very, very, very – and I could add a few verys here – small. So from the market perspective, are we afraid? No, because it’s a very different niche. It’s – this is an endeavor to sort of try to push the hardware while we are really targeting the mass markets where it is, which is major consoles and the PCs without the need to have the VR gear.”

Even with other big names like, say, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, DOOM Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons in April or Marvel’s Avengers in May next year, Cyberpunk 2077 should see a rather strong response. The game is out on April 16th 2020 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Stay tuned for more details.