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A video game once synonymous with one of the most disastrous launches in history has not only redeemed itself, but will be getting a proper second act. Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red announced in an earnings call Wednesday that the company is at work on a follow-up to the futuristic role-playing title, which was released in late 2020 and universally criticized for being unfinished, glitchy, and at times unplayable. CD Projekt Red said that the conceptual phase is complete and preproduction has begun on the next big game set in the Cyberpunk universe, which it is calling Cyberpunk 2 for now. The company expects the games development to take four to five years, but that number could shift as the project gets underway. The redemption story is a striking change of fate for Cyberpunk 2077, which not long ago was doomed to languish in video game lore as one of the greatest failures of all time. Cyberpunks skyscraper-high launch expectations For a time, Cyberpunk 2077 appeared destined to become gamer shorthand for a much-hyped game that overpromises and underdelivers to the extreme. The backlash over Cyberpunk 2077s likely premature launch was so severe that many platforms hosting the games download began issuing refunds to appease unhappy players, with Sony even going as far as taking the game out of the PlayStation store. At the time of its initial release, hype for Cyberpunk 2077 was sky-high. Developer CD Projekt Red was widely lauded for its hit The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a sprawling open-world role-playing game (RPG) famous for rich narrative storytelling. It didnt help that Cyberpunk 2077s development budget topped $300 million, making it one of the most expensive games ever made. A very expensive makeover Instead of calling Cyberpunk 2077 a flop and moving on, CD Projekt Red kept chipping away at the game, issuing improvements to stabilize its performance, deepen combat, and paint richer stories in its glowing Tokyo-esque fictional metropolis of Night City. Cyberpunk 2077 joins only a handful of games, including Final Fantasy XIV and No Mans Sky, that have completely rewritten their own histories after failing spectacularly. For Cyberpunk 2077 and those games alike, the modern model of live-service gamesgames that evolve and get updates over time, sometimes through paid contentmade the comeback stories possible. After their initial missteps, the teams behind all of these games spent years winning back players and rebuilding their communities, earning a lot of respect in the process. Cyberpunk 2077s turnaround wasnt cheap. The company poured north of $100 million in additional resources into the game after its launch, putting out a major large-scale expansion called Phantom Liberty, starring actor Idris Elba, who joined Keanu Reeves on the games A-list voice-acting cast. In its earnings call, CD Projekt Red announced that the expansion has now sold more than 10 million copies. Fast-forward four years, and the team behind the former failure clawed their reputation back so successfully that Steams user reviews now rate Cyberpunk 2077 as overwhelmingly positivean outcome that would have been impossible to imagine back in the games dark days.
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E-Commerce
According to new research from Whop, a marketplace for digital products, one in three Gen Z consumers now make purchasing decisions based on recommendations from AI-generated influencers. The report gathered survey data from 2,001 Americans 12-to-27 years old and found the trend particularly strong among college-aged consumers. Nearly half of 19-to-21 year olds follow AI influencers, with 47% of young men following these accounts, compared to under 40% of women. While many have argued that AI influencers lack the authenticity needed to sell products, that might not matterespecially to Gen Z. Authenticity vs reach Previous research backs this up. Nearly half (46%) of Gen Z say theyre more likely to trust a brand that works with an AI influencer. Only 35% of Gen Z respondents said they valued an influencers authenticity, according to Sprout Socials 2024 Influencer Marketing Report, compared to about half of millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers. What Gen Z does care about is follower count. Almost half (47%) said the number of followers matters more than how authentic the influencer feels. Unsurprisingly, almost half (49%) of influencers admit theyre worried. Lil Miquela, one of the most high-profile virtual creators, with 2.4 million followers on Instagram, has pulled in brand deals with BMW, Calvin Klein, and Dior. The character reportedly earns close to seven figures annually; a Bloomberg article from 2020 estimated $8,000 per sponsored post, citing data from OnBuy. Other notable AI influencers include Nonoouri (498,000 followers), Magazine Luzie (7.8 million followers), and Shudu (237,000 followers). View this post on Instagram A post shared by noonoouri (@noonoouri) Platforms are now leaning in. Meta recently launched tools that allow users to create their own AI characters on Instagram and Facebook, opening the door for creators to build their own virtual influencers with no coding or design background needed. “Our findings are clear: younger generations are hungry for opportunities to make money online. It’s a sign of the times, and what more is to come, said Cameron Zoub, chief growth officer and cofounder of Whop, in a statement. “However, creating an AI influencer and the ability to make a living off of one are two very different things.
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E-Commerce
Meta has spent 15 years shunning the iPad. Now, it seems theyre finally ready to embrace the tablet lovers. WhatsApp users can finally text from the big screen. On Tuesday, Meta announced that the popular messaging app is finally available on iPadOS devices, including expanded features for multitasking. Meanwhile, reports indicate that Meta is finally building Instagram for the iPad as well. Its a curious time to embrace tablets. While still a high-volume sales item, the iPad is losing its popularity. The device has endured a yearslong backslide in growth, comprising only 6.8% of Apple’s revenue in 2024 compared to the boom of more than 15% in the early 2010s. Still, an iPad expansion opens Meta apps up to a broader swath of consumers. Metas iPad expansion WhatsApp has been mobile-first since its 2009 launch. Meta purchased the app $19 billion in 2014, mostly leaving it alone to rake in revenue from its then 600 million active users. That number now sits closer to 3 billion, a rival to Facebook and beating out Instagram (Meta doesnt split their revenue reports by app, but experts estimate that WhatsApp now generates nearly $20 billion annually). Recently, though, Meta has been taking a more active role in WhatsApps development. They added messaging functions like emoji reactions, built access via Mac and Windows computers, and broke down privacy barriers by tying WhatsApp to other Meta properties. Though there has been an an iPhone app since 2009, iPad users needed to access WhatsApp via their browser, where users were unable to make calls. Now, Meta has finally launched a standalone iPad app. The app is mostly the same as its iOS alternative, though it integrates common iPad tools like the Apple Pencil and the Magic Keyboard. Since iPads allow split screens, users can now message and call while scrolling other apps, while mobile users still need to toggle between them. (Meta did not respond to a request for comment.) Instagram is Metas other major iPad holdout. To access Instagram on a tablet, users must expand the iPhone app, which can reduce image quality. In 2022, Instagram head Adam Mosseri tweeted that that the Instagram for iPad supporters were still just not a big enough group of people to be a priority, but that they would get to it at some point. Now seems to be the time: According to The Information, Meta is building an iPad version of Instagram to compete with TikTok amid the Chinese apps regulatory challenges. Metas device strategy shift is more apparent in their smaller apps. In July 2023, it launched their X competitor, Threads, for mobile only. Two years later, the app still doesnt have an iPad counterpart. Compare that to the new Meta AI app which launched last month. This app debuted for both iPhone and iPad, a rarity for Meta. Why is Meta interested in iPads now? When the iPad hit its peak in the mid-2010s, Meta still refused to tailor many of their social apps for the bigger screen. Now, growth is depressed, innovation has slowed, and iPad mania has cooled. Why is Meta now interested in an iPad play after all these years? The choice could be reflective of consumer sentiments. As social apps speed towards entertainment platforms (and away from social connectors), many users are looking for bigger screens. YouTube is now more popular on TVs than it is on phones. Meanwhile, the streaming services that are most popular on iPads are fashioning themselves after social apps. This convergence of content could make being on alternate screen sizes more important for the consumer. The move towards iPads could also be a legacy play. While tablet popularity is waning among the general population, it remains dominant among young children. The Generation Alpha sub-demographic of ages 7-9 are affectionately titled iPad kids, with almost 80% raised with easy access to an iPad. This young demographic is also already on social media, and even on the smaller platforms. Feeding their apps to iPad kids could ensure longevity, or help Meta reach an underserved consumer base. Meta apps are significantly less popular among Generation Alpha, after all, with the young users opting for YouTube, TikTok, and even Snapchat. Or, Meta could just be embracing a bigger group of consumers. Tablet lovers have waited 15 years, after all. Meta is finally embracing them.
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E-Commerce
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