Cyberpunk 2077 is set to be released on December 10th, 2020, with media members finally being allowed to share thoughts on their PC-only review copies. One gaming journalist noted a specific issue with lights in the game that triggered epileptic seizures for her. Game Informer’s Liana Ruppert published her experience with the game and the epileptic triggers on Monday afternoon. In the piece, she details how her seizure was triggered:
When “suiting up” for a BD (Braindance), especially with Judy, V will be given a headset that is meant to onset the instance. The headset fits over both eyes and features a rapid onslaught of white and red blinking LEDs, much like the actual device neurologists use in real life to trigger a seizure when they need to trigger one for diagnosis purposes. If not modeled off of the IRL design, it’s a very spot-on coincidence, and because of that this is one aspect that I would personally advise you to avoid altogether. When you notice the headset come into play, look away completely or close your eyes. This is a pattern of lights designed to trigger an epileptic episode and it very much did that in my own personal playthrough.
To be clear, this wasn’t some combination of city lights and advertisements that may just happen to trigger a seizure (which she explains is also present in the game). This was a deliberate gameplay feature, allegedly modeled after a real life seizure-triggering apparatus, that is visible when using the prevalent “Braindance” mechanism. Yikes.
Liana noted that she still enjoyed the game, but thought there should be a more explicit warning that something so blatantly dangerous is a necessary part of gameplay. While her story made its rounds on social media, CD Projekt Red eventually caught wind and issued a response:
Thank you for bringing this up. We’re working on adding a separate warning in the game, aside from the one that exists in the EULA (https://t.co/eXpPn73VSK). Regarding a more permanent solution, Dev team is currently exploring that and will be implementing it as soon as possible. https://t.co/lXFypnSit2
— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 8, 2020
It’s good to see CDPR taking ownership of the issue, but the fact that this wasn’t caught in the QA or certification processes—combined with a lack of early console review codes and a high number of glitches—raises some fair questions. Just how rushed was this game? Was the reported crunch to meet a deadline that wasn’t possible to meet safely?
Cyberpunk 2077, the follow-up project to development studio CD Projekt Red’s 2015 classic The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, is finally approaching release on December 10th. After three delays, the futuristic first person RPG is set to release on both current and next gen consoles (coming in 2021), PC, and Google Stadia. While the studio has been under fire recently for employee crunch as they approach the game’s release, it was seen as a positive that the December 10th release date seemed final, and that the energy for the game was beginning to pick up.
Earlier this week, reviews for the game began to roll out, although only for PC and only using CDPR-provided marketing B-roll footage instead of reviewer-captured video and stills, as is customary for game reviews. This cast more of a cloud over the game, as many reviewers wondered why they wouldn’t be able to capture their own footage. The answer became clear as many reported what they characterized as immersion-breaking bugs and glitches in critical moments of story or gameplay.
It’s speculated that the game will be patched day 1 to fix a myriad of issues reported in various reviews. But the game’s performance on console is a complete mystery right now, as nobody outside of CD Projekt Red (and a bunch of people with broken street date copies) has gotten their hands on it. We’ll be sure to update you with PS4 & PS5 coverage as soon as we’ve had a chance to try it for ourselves.
