Epic glow-up: Cyberpunk 2077, the open-world action RPG that launched to a storm of negativity back in 2020, has incredibly turned things around and is now basking in "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on Steam. This redemption story is nothing short of remarkable in the gaming world.

When Cyberpunk 2077 first launched, it was essentially unplayable on consoles due to a nightmare of technical issues. The buggy mess saw the game yanked off the PlayStation store entirely as players revolted. Critics panned it and fans seethed – it was a sad state of affairs for a game that took over 4 years and $436 million to make.

But the developers at CD Projekt Red were not throwing in the towel that easily. Through a barrage of patches, fixes, and next-gen upgrades over the subsequent years, they've managed to overhaul Cyberpunk 2077 into the slick experience it was always meant to be.

The evidence is in the reviews. In the last 30 days alone, a staggering 95% of the nearly 7,100 user Steam reviews have given Cyberpunk 2077 a big thumbs up. That translates to over 6,700 satisfied customers singing its praises recently. Even looking at the overall user reviews, 83% of 650,000+ ratings are positive.

The developers are, understandably, elated about this incredible turnaround. Pawel Sasko, an associate game director at CDPR, tweeted: "You can't imagine how much it means to me I have never been close to giving up and always believed this could be somehow possible, but never thought I will actually see it. Thank you so much for the second chance chooms."

So what spurred this epic resurgence? A few key things helped Cyberpunk get its groove back in a major way.

First, that steady cadence of major patches and updates was critical, addressing issues comprehensively over time. It started with the 1.1 patch released on January 22, 2021. This was basically CDPR trying to put out the biggest fires by stabilizing the game on consoles and patching the worst bugs. Everyone knew that the next patch was going to be bigger, so this one was eagerly awaited.

Then the launch of the Phantom Liberty expansion in late 2023 injected new content like story expansions and added territory to explore.

Another possible reason for the turn of fortunes is the hit anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix, which rekindled intense interest and appreciation for the game's stylish and immersive cyberpunk world. Between the expanded universe and a finally polished experience, fans flooded back to Night City.

With its reputation now rehabilitated, all eyes turn to CDPR's next moves. The studio has tapped veteran narrative designers like Anna Megill and Alexander Freed to lead the writing for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Project Orion. While still early in development, CDPR is even "considering" multiplayer elements to further shake up the franchise.