The appeal of money already stung them once. I maintain that the reason they had to release Cyberpunk before it was ready was because of contractual obligations and penalty clauses from a Hollywood actor they enlisted, in the hope of selling more copies with his name. Movies have much more fixed release dates than games and the actor’s agents were the big dog at the negotiating table, setting the terms to suit themselves. I’d like to think they’ve learned their lesson.
Also, CDPR own GOG and have a stable income, one that relies on their current structure. I doubt anyone buying them would look to keep them DRM free.
Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I think cyberpunk would have been just as good with somone else playing Johnny. Let’s be honest, it probably would have been better.
Keanu may be a great guy, although I assume we mainly think that because of his PR company, but he’s not a particularly good actor. Film actors are also often worse at stuff like this than professional voice actors. It’s not an uncommon complaint.
Not that I blame them, I assume they mainly hired him for marketing purposes, and he absolutely did help generate hype.
I completely agree with everything you’ve said. Also, I don’t blame Keanu if he did have harsh contractual penalties with CDPR, as it’s his agents who negotiate contracts.
However I would say that, while his PR team no doubt influence things, by all accounts he is a very stand up dude.
How would we know though?
He’s an A-lister and he’s represented by a big talent agency and production company.
They can quite easily squash stories, simply by refusing media access to other stars or productions on their roster.
Hell, for all we know he could be on Epstein’s list. Or he could be secretly donating money to donkey sanctuaries. Who knows?