In a plot twist worthy of Night City itself, Cyberpunk 2077 somehow managed to hack its way into winning the Best Ongoing Game award at The Game Awards 2023, leaving gamers across the globe scratching their heads and muttering "What in the actual tech-hell just happened?" The game, which celebrated its third anniversary since its infamously disastrous launch, beat out traditional live-service heavyweights like Fortnite, Apex Legends, Final Fantasy 14, and Genshin Impact for the prestigious trophy.

From Dumpster Fire to Phoenix Rising

Let's not beat around the bush here - Cyberpunk 2077's 2020 launch was about as smooth as riding a glitched motorcycle through Night City's traffic. The game was practically unplayable on last-gen consoles, with even high-end PCs struggling to run what appeared to be some kind of digital fever dream rather than the revolutionary RPG that CD Projekt Red had promised. It was, as the kids say, an epic fail of monumental proportions.

Fast forward to 2026, and we're looking at what might be gaming's most dramatic glow-up since No Man's Sky decided to actually become good. The 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty DLC have transformed the game into something much closer to what was initially promised, earning back goodwill from the community one patch at a time. It's like watching that friend who completely bombed their college years suddenly show up to the 5-year reunion with a six-figure job and a sports car. Talk about a comeback!

Square Peg, Round Hole

However, this victory raises more questions than V has implants. The Best Ongoing Game category has traditionally been the domain of live-service games - you know, those titles that keep asking for your time and money long after purchase through battle passes and seasonal content. Looking at the other nominees, they're all either free-to-play games designed from the ground up for continuous updates, or in Final Fantasy 14's case, a subscription-based MMO.

Cyberpunk 2077, on the other hand, is a single-player RPG that was sold as a complete product. Most of its updates weren't adding new content - they were fixing what should have worked at launch. As one gamer put it on social media: "Giving Cyberpunk 'Best Ongoing Game' is like giving someone a 'Best Home Renovation' award for finally fixing the roof that collapsed on day one." Ouch, that's savage AF!

The Irony of Timing

In a twist that would make Johnny Silverhand chuckle cynically, CD Projekt Red had already announced they were moving on from Cyberpunk 2077 right around the time it won an award celebrating ongoing support. Talk about awkward timing! It's like receiving the "Most Dedicated Employee" award on the same day you hand in your resignation letter.

Patches ≠ Content

Let's break it down by the numbers:

Game	Business Model	Regular Content Updates	Community Events	Long-term Roadmap
Fortnite	Free-to-play	✅	✅	✅
Apex Legends	Free-to-play	✅	✅	✅
Genshin Impact	Free-to-play	✅	✅	✅
Final Fantasy 14	Subscription	✅	✅	✅
Cyberpunk 2077	One-time purchase	❓	❌	❌

While the updates to Cyberpunk 2077 were substantial, they primarily addressed what many gamers call "should-have-been-there-from-the-start" features. The skill tree reworks and the Metro system are nice additions, but they pale in comparison to the constant evolution seen in games like Fortnite, which transforms itself more often than a teenager changes their social media profile picture.

The No Man's Sky Precedent

Some defenders of the decision point to No Man's Sky winning the same award in 2020. However, Hello Games' space exploration title had fundamentally transformed itself multiple times with massive free content updates that added entirely new gameplay systems. By comparison, Cyberpunk 2077's journey was more about polish than revolution - less "We're adding multiplayer and living ships!" and more "The game no longer crashes when you look at a pedestrian!"

A Dangerous Precedent?

This unexpected win potentially sets a concerning precedent for future awards. Are we now rewarding games for launching in terrible states and then fixing themselves? It's like giving a "Most Improved Driver" award to someone who initially drove their car into a lake. Sure, they're better now, but maybe that shouldn't be the standard we're celebrating?

As one industry insider tweeted: "The bar is officially in hell. Can't wait for next year's nominees to include games that launched missing half their features but added them later for $19.99." The shade is real, folks!

Credit Where Credit's Due

All jokes aside, CD Projekt Red deserves recognition for not abandoning ship when the waters got rough. Many studios would have cut their losses and moved on, but CDPR stuck with it, investing significant resources into making Cyberpunk 2077 the game it should have been. That commitment is admirable, even if the award category feels like a stretch.

In the words of Night City's favorite rockerboy: "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you pulled." But sometimes, having the nerve to show up and make things right is exactly what the gaming industry needs more of.

As we look ahead to 2027, one thing's for sure - this controversy has ensured that The Game Awards will be taking a long, hard look at their category definitions. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get a new category: "Best Game That Fixed Itself After a Catastrophic Launch." Now that would be preem! 🤘