GameSpot gave Cyberpunk 2077 a 7/10 on PC. Sony pulled it from the PS Store 48 hours later.

Establish the timeline. Cyberpunk 2077 launched December 10, 2020. CD Projekt Red withheld console review copies — the PS4 and Xbox One versions were not sent to press before launch, a move that is either a logistical oversight or a deliberate strategy to prevent reviewers from documenting what console players would actually experience. GameSpot's December 15 review ran on PC only, awarded a 7/10, and was live for exactly 48 hours before Sony Interactive Entertainment removed Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and began issuing full refunds. The game's console retail career lasted seven days. GameSpot's 7/10 is still up.

Here's the distribution math. Cyberpunk 2077 was marketed for four years as a PlayStation and Xbox game. Console players represented the majority of pre-orders. GameSpot's reviewer completed 50 hours on PC, where the game was functional, describing side quests as 'shining beacons.' Base-model PS4 owners were documenting sub-20fps performance, regular crashes, and visual fidelity that looked like a game from 2012 running out of memory. CD Projekt Red's own apology video acknowledged they had failed console players specifically. Nobody at GameSpot asked why the publisher only sent PC codes. The question writes itself. The review did not.

Run the score math. GameSpot editorial: 7/10 for the PC version. Metacritic user score on PS4 at launch: 3.2. That is a 3.8-point gap between a press-supplied PC build and the commercially purchased console product — on the same property, reviewed by people using real money. One of those scores reflects a game that exists. The other reflects an experience that roughly half the paying audience never had. GameSpot publishes both, labels both 'Cyberpunk 2077,' and lets you figure out the difference.

The review isn't wrong about what it played. It's wrong about what it reviewed. Reviewing the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020 and applying that score universally is like reviewing a restaurant's private chef's table and posting the stars next to the drive-through. The publisher knew the console version was unshippable — that's why there were no console codes. GameSpot knew the publisher withheld console codes — that's a detail you notice when building a review schedule. The review mentions none of this. CD Projekt Red's refund program mentioned it for them. Sponsored by the truth.