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| The Last Of Us Part II's Abby (Image Source: Forbes/Sony Interactive Entertainment/Naughty Dog) |
Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us Part II for the Sony PlayStation 4 and CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 were among the most highly anticipated video games of 2020. Amidst their own challenges and the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, it is surprisingly intriguing to think that these two would make their own impactful piece of gaming history throughout the pandemic game. The Last Of Us Part II officially has the most number of awards of any video game history according to a so-called Game Of The Year tracker while Cyberpunk 2077 is highly regarded as having the largest digital video game launch of all time.
The critically-acclaimed sequel to the 2013 action-adventure game that introduced Joel and Ellie to the world managed to bag more than 260 major media outlet awards and reader's choice awards according to gameawards.net. This feat literally surpassed the five-year long record previously held by CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt meaning that Geralt passes the honor to Ellie and Abby, who are the main protagonists of The Last Of Us Part II. Despite its divisive narrative and new characters that split the gaming community, The Last Of Us Part II smashed records, selling four million copies in just three days, and eventually became the fastest-selling PlayStation exclusive to date.
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| (Image Source: Cyberpunk 2077/CD Projekt Red) |
On the other hand, Cyberpunk 2077 sold more than 10.2 million digital copies during its launch according to a report by SuperData, with 80% of its digital sales being on PC. In December 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 became the top grossing game on PC and third on consoles. The game may be a massive hit, but it seems that SuperData's report did not include refunds considering that these do not substantially affect the game's aggregate sales. Despite the success, the game faced backlash and ignited a fire of heavy negative criticism on social media as it was plagued by bugs and numerous issues, especially on the PC which is said to have praised for its impressed graphics. Last January, CD Projekt Red released a first of many updates that aim to improve the game and fix its issues in the process.
