Cyberpunk 2077 Could Revive the Immersive Sim | CBR – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Despite marketing itself as an RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 is an immersive sim, a genre that has often gone overlooked despite critical acclaim.

The immersive sim as a genre has been foundational to the advancement of modern video games, emphasizing player choice, creative decision making and interactive worlds. Yet it is also a genrethat has historically sunk studios and offered little in the way of profit or mainstream success for those who make them. However, despite masquerading as an RPG,Cyberpunk 2077'simminentrelease hasonce again providedthe immersive sim with an opportunity to expand its appeal to a much wider audience.

For over two decades, game developers have attempted to make the immersive sim a mainstream genre. But despite their continued efforts, it seems as if the genre has forever relegated its appeal to a niche audience due to the relative complexity of the moment-to-moment gameplay that is characteristic of immersive sims. Though games like PreyortheDeus Ex series have put a spotlight on immersive sims and have received endless critical praise, neither hasbeen particularly financial success for their respective studios. Developed in the early 1990s during a time of great experimentation and creative freedom in the industry, from the very beginning, the immersive sim seems to have survived despite itself.

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When immersive sims first emerged onto the scene in their earliest incarnations la theSystem Shockgames, their gameplay advancements and innovations wereso monumental that gamers of the time were left with few other points of reference to describe this new genre. Most playersdisregarded these early games as poor Doom and Half-Life clones respectively.

Though these games received critical acclaim at the time and continue to be hailed as progenitors of immersive sim design philosophy, both titles failed commercially during their initial releases. This is partially due to mishandled marketing, but also a lack of understanding or interest on the part of the gaming audience.

Unfortunately for fans and developers of immersive sims, the continued lack of mainstream interest inthe genrehas been a continued trend over the last twenty years. Despite receiving somewhat of a resurrection during the last decade, with multiple Bioshock, Dishonoredand Deus Ex games having been released, none of these modern immersive sims have turned enough of a profit toencourage developersto make the genre a staple of modern game releases.

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In fact, the only times an immersive sim has reached mass appeal is when the emergent gameplay systems and action-RPG mechanics have been streamlined to the point of near nonexistence.This is the case withthe Bioshock franchise, which (while having elements of the immersive sim) still plays far more like a traditional first-person shooter.

However, with the release ofCyberpunk 2077 right around the corner, the potential for a real, complex immersive simfinally reaching the mainstream is here. While the past eight years of marketing hype forCyberpunk has put an emphasis on its history as a tabletop RPG and the incredible potential for unique role-playing scenarios within the game world, it becomes ever more clear that CD Projekt RED's latest game is less of a regular RPG, but is instead the most complex, detailed immersive sim that gamers have ever seen.

Related:Four Indie Games to Keep You Hyped for Cyberpunk: 2077

During an E3 2019 interview with YouTube personality, YongYea, a quests director on theCyberpunk development team was quoted as saying, "We paid lots of attention in adding this level of non-linearity in terms of gameplay...We've put a lot of attention and focus on giving the player the freedom to play the game the way they would want it to be played." Clearly, CD Projekt RED has been hard at work ensuring that their latest game is full to the brim with player choice and emergent gameplay. These are hallmarks of the immersive sim, as arefirst-person sneaking, hacking and shooting gameplay trifecta.

With that said, ifCyberpunk 2077manages to live up to its immense hype and become the summer blockbuster it is shaping up to be, the potential for more games to take advantage of the immersive sim design philosophy will be bigger than ever before. Regardless of Cyberpunk 2077's success, or lack thereof, there will likely still be immersive simsreleased from time to time. However, if it is not a financial hit, it could spell disaster for other immersive sims in development, such as System Shock 3 and theSystem Shock Remake, and make it unlikely that the genre will ever make the leap to the mainstream.

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Kurt Larson is a writer, filmmaker, musician, and avid gamer living life in the ever rainy municipality of Portland, Oregon. Kurt is a video game features writer for cbr.com, the arts and entertainment editor at the Advocate newspaper, lead editor of Venture magazine, film critic, and general purpose ideas guy. When he's not busy putting virtual pen to paper, Kurt enjoys composing original music for guitar and bass, tinkering with computers and electronics, and binging YouTube, among other things.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Could Revive the Immersive Sim | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources