CD Projekt Red hit a beloved fan-made VR mod for Cyberpunk 2077 with a DMCA takedown, and the irony is not lost on anyone.
This is the same studio that built its reputation on being the gaming industry's good guys. The ones who promised free DLC, no DRM, and respect for their community. The ones who said "we leave greed to others."
Now they're taking down a mod that let players experience Night City in virtual reality - a feature fans have been begging for since launch, and one CDPR never bothered to implement themselves.
The VR mod wasn't selling for profit. It wasn't stealing assets. It was a passion project from a modder who loved the game enough to spend hundreds of hours making it better. For free.
According to reports, the DMCA was issued without much explanation beyond copyright concerns. The mod has been pulled from distribution.
The community reaction has been swift and brutal. Comments across gaming forums point out that CDPR has historically encouraged modding. They released official mod tools for The Witcher games. They talked endlessly about how much they valued their community.
But apparently that goodwill has limits.
Here's what bugs me: this isn't protecting revenue. CDPR isn't losing sales because someone made a VR mod. If anything, a working VR implementation might have sold more copies to VR enthusiasts who passed on the game.
This feels like corporate legal reflex overriding common sense. Some lawyer saw "unauthorized modification" and hit the kill switch without considering what it would cost in community trust.
And that trust was already damaged. Cyberpunk 2077 launched in a state that can generously be described as "rough." The game has improved massively since then - Phantom Liberty is genuinely excellent - but CDPR spent years rebuilding their reputation after that disaster.
This DMCA doesn't erase that work, but it sure doesn't help.
The worst part? There's precedent for studios embracing VR mods. Resident Evil has official VR modes now, partly because Capcom saw the community demand. Half-Life 2 got VR support through fan efforts that Valve tacitly encouraged.
CDPR could have done the same. They could have reached out to the modder, maybe even hired them. They could have said "we can't officially support this, but we respect the work."
Instead, they chose the DMCA.
I've spent hours in Night City. I love what this game became after its rocky start. But I also remember when CDPR stood for something different in this industry.
This isn't that.
To the modding community: you deserved better. To CDPR: you just reminded everyone that corporate-speak about "player-first" philosophies means nothing when legal gets nervous.
Would I speedrun this controversy? No thanks. I'll just be over here, mourning what could have been.
