A report on Bloomberg (may require registration or subscription) says that CD PROJEKT will give the development team for Cyberpunk 2077 their full bonuses, despite bugs and launch issues with the sci-fi RPG. The company was planning on basing bonuses on critical response to the game, but they are accepting responsibility for the rushed crunch that proceeded the game's launch, and will not be penalizing the team for how this affected reviews. Here's a bit:

Cyberpunk 2077, which came out Thursday, is one of the year’s biggest games and a monumental release for the Polish publisher, which only makes new titles every few years. The sci-fi role-playing game sold more than 8 million copies in pre-orders before launch and has been acclaimed for its mechanics and story, but slammed for the number of glitches and bugs. As of Friday, Cyberpunk 2077 had a 90 out of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic -- a strong score that has nonetheless disappointed shareholders. If that score dips below 90, it may no longer meet the threshold that CD Projekt had originally set for bonus payouts.

“We initially had a bonus system that was focused on the game’s ratings and the release date, but after consideration, we believe that measure is simply not fair under the circumstances,” wrote Adam Badowski, studio head and creative director for Cyberpunk 2077, in the email to staff. “We underestimated the lengths and complexity involved to make this a reality, and still you did everything you could to deliver an ambitious, special game.”

SteamDB notes that Steam has hit new milestone for concurrent players (thanks PCGamesN). They report a new record of 24,776,635 players on the service at once. The previous record was set back in April when they hit 24,157,126 players.

Trackmaster is now available on Steam, offering an arcade racing game for Windows that uses procedurally generated tracks to create dynamic environments. This trailer shows off a little of the game's chaotic gameplay. Here's a full explanation:

Trackmaster is no ordinary racing game as your ability to observe and react to your surroundings is as important as your driving skills! All tracks within the game are procedurally generated and you will never get bored of playing the same track twice; with varying difficulty levels and track length, you can tailor your session to your personal preference. Four unique vehicles are available to play, and each has its own abilities and weaknesses that you will discover as you race. You can compete with your friends in a challenging and sometimes chaotic race and take advantage of collectible power-ups or knock your opponent off the track! Tailor your car with an annoying horn and cool decal, and drive through explosions, take a ride in the loop, and look out for the rotating barrels! The dynamic weather makes for an unexpected game and sudden storms or whirlwinds can be to your advantage. Learning to take shortcuts can make or break a win, and realistic physics makes the game fun and unpredictable.

Continue here to read the full story.

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Thanks Ant.

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• The Best Settings to Use in Cyberpunk 2077.
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• Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmark Test & Performance Review - TechPowerUp.
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Thanks Neutronbeam.

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• Inside the obsessive world of miniature arcade machine makers. Thanks Slashdot via Ant…

I've stalled a little getting done here today because now that I am, I have a ton of work to do. Literally. We took delivery today of our second batch of wood pellets for our pellet stove, so I now have a pallet of 50 40lb bags of pellets to carry in and store away. Last year we got one ton in bulk and then bought pellets for the rest of the winter piecemeal in batches of six at a time that we could bring home in the car. But with MrsBlue working from home, we're going through the pellets faster, and it's altogether possible we'll have to do that again once we're done with a second ton. Especially since it hasn't even gotten that cold yet. Anyway, lugging in those bags doesn't seem so bad at first, but I know from experience that it gets old really fast, and I am not looking forward to this chore at all. Wish me luck!

Pellet Pallet Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.

Brunch Link

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Media

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Follow-up

• SpaceX's latest Starship prototype COLLAPSES on the launch pad. Thanks RedEye9.