From Catastrophic UX to Success, a Case Study on Hello Games and CDPR

In December 2020, CD Projekt Red released one of the most anticipated games in recent history: Cyberpunk 2077. Years of teasing, promises, and sky-high expectations followed the commercial and critical success of The Witcher 3.

We all know how it went.

Yes, the game sold incredibly well. But in terms of user experience, it was a disaster. A cluttered HUD, an inventory full of junk, and endless technical issues. It was so broken on consoles that Sony offered full refunds and even pulled the game from its store, a rare and brutal move. And yet, today, Cyberpunk 2077 is widely regarded as one of the best open world experiences available.

Then there’s No Man’s Sky, released by Hello Games in August 2016. It promised the stars, literally, a limitless universe to explore. But what players found was an empty shell: missing features, repetitive gameplay, and a technical mess. The hype collapsed immediately.

And still, No Man’s Sky is now seen as a model of redemption.

Two broken launches, two redemption arcs, two UX failures turned into success stories.

Let’s dig into how they pulled it off.

Two Studios, Two Strategies

Judy is judging you

CD Projekt Red: Night City is brutal

To be fair, CDPR had a history of releasing rough games and improving them later. Witcher 1, 2, and 3 all had enhanced editions. So we could expect Cyberpunk to need a few patches , just not that many.

At launch, their communication was a mess. Apologies, excuses, vague promises.

But then they shifted: less talk, more work. They published clear roadmaps, stopped overpromising, and delivered a series of updates culminating in version 2.0.

They also listened. The loot system was reworked, bugs squashed, UI redesigned, and performance stabilized. Eventually, they released Phantom Liberty, a major expansion that was both a critical and commercial hit. A true soft relaunch, and it worked.

No Man Sky Crashed

Hello Games: To the stars and beyond

Hello Games took a different route. After No Man’s Sky flopped, they went completely silent. No apologies. No promises. Just patch notes. At first, it felt like they’d cashed in and disappeared. But slowly, they released fixes. Then real updates. Then full content expansions, all for free.

This was bold. They could’ve fixed the base game and tried to monetize extra content. But they didn’t. They chose the long road: earn back trust, one update at a time.

Each expansion, Next, Origins, Beyond, Endurance, brought the game closer to what was originally promised, and eventually, beyond that.

Party Time

What Made the Difference?

Despite their different approaches, both studios succeeded by tackling the same core UX challenges.

1. Resetting Expectations

Both games were crushed under the weight of hype. In both cases, the path to redemption started by realigning expectations, not just fixing bugs, but reshaping what players believed the game could (and should) be.

2. Feedback Loops

They both embraced a form of user-centered design, not just listening to player feedback but actively implementing it. UX is not static, it evolves with the player base.

3. Reworking the Experience

UI redesigns, clearer tutorials, improved inventory systems, streamlined mechanics, all these UX improvements were intentional and visible. It wasn’t just backend fixes, it was a full UX overhaul.

4. Smart Communication

CDPR recovered from bad PR by improving clarity and transparency. Hello Games avoided it altogether by letting the product speak for itself. Both strategies had the same goal: rebuild trust.

5. Structured Post-Launch Support

Hello Games treated every major update like a product relaunch. CDPR used Phantom Liberty as their moment. In both cases, content was paired with UX upgrades, not just cosmetics or missions.

The UX Lesson

User Experience isn’t just about menus and controls. It’s about expectations, communication, and emotional trust. These two games went from catastrophic launches to long-term success because their studios recognized that UX is central to a game’s survival.

In the end, they provided an experience that people wanted to play, and more importantly, enjoyed playing. That’s what turned bad word of mouth into free marketing, and frustration into loyalty.

A Word of Caution

Let’s be honest, Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man’s Sky had one major advantage, they sold well, even at launch. That gave the studios the time and money to recover.

If you’re a smaller team, you might not get that second chance.

So don’t gamble on redemption. Design your UX right the first time. Respect your players, set realistic expectations, and build the game with them, not just for them.

And if you need help with that, you know where to find me :) 

Happy players, happy devs.