Following the most recent delay of Cyberpunk 2077, some lovely folk on the internet have made death threats towards the developers at CD Projekt Red.
This week the hugely anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 suffered yet another delay – the latest of several – and this was despite the developers allegedly working crunch hours to make the game go “Gold”.
The latest delay pushed the game back to December 10th, which quite naturally left many fans feeling disappointed. However the actions of a minority have gone too far and sadly not for the first time.
Unfortunately developers receiving death threats in the video game industry is a common trend, which doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
Just let this sink in for a moment: people are wishing death to others because a video game is releasing later than they hoped. Do people really deserve threats of death because some people can’t play a certain video game on an expected date?
The latest series of death threats have been brought to our attention by senior game designer at CD Projekt Red Andrzej Zawadzki. He said: “I understand you’re feeling angry, disappointed,
“However, sending death threats to the developers is absolutely unacceptable. We are people, just like you.“
Naughty Dog developer Gabby Llanillo chimed in on the topic, detailing the impact of mental health especially when receiving death threats.
“I still have conversations with my coworkers about the negative mental effects that linger to this DAY due to the threats,” she tweeted, regarding the controversy over Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2. She also made it clear that threats “don’t just go over our heads.”
Meanwhile, CDPR Head of Communication and face of Cyberpunk’s Night Wire events, thanked fans for their kind words, writing: “To those who tweeted me last night with messages of kindness, understanding, and positivity even though you were disappointed, I just want to say thank you. Now, let’s do this!”
Personally, I get the disappointment with the delay, I really do. However with all the genuinely bad people in the world, do you really think that game developers deserve threats of death because of a delay?
Video games are more than just a hobby; they can help us get through our mental health issues on a daily basis. I can’t think of a better medium that has helped me through all the dark times more than video games and the people that are bringing us something that we love are receiving death threats.
The closing statement of Zawadzki’s tweet should resonate with us all “We are people, just like you.” Just imagine if you, a family member, a friend or any person that you loved received death threats for doing their job. How would that make you feel?
The next time a video game gets delayed and it makes you feel angry, just take a few seconds to think about what you’re writing and what you are posting for all to see.
You never know what any single person is going through, so just be kind and perhaps rather than spreading hate, tweet one of your favourite developers to let them know how much of an awesome job they are doing.
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Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt Red