In the ever-unpredictable world of video game awards, the 2026 Game Awards nomination list has thrown a delightful curveball. Cyberpunk 2077, once the poster child for disastrous launches, finds itself in the running for Best Ongoing Game. This category, typically the domain of sprawling live-service MMOs and constantly-updated multiplayer behemoths, seems an odd fit for a single-player RPG. Yet, for those who have followed Night City's turbulent journey, the nomination feels less like a clerical error and more like a well-earned victory lap for one of gaming's greatest comebacks. The story of how a game pulled from digital storefronts clawed its way back into award contention is a tale of persistence, major updates, and a little DLC called Phantom Liberty.
Few stories in gaming are as dramatic as the redemption arc of Cyberpunk 2077. Its 2020 debut was, to put it mildly, a catastrophe. The game was so riddled with technical gremlins—from floating characters to game-breaking crashes—that it became an instant meme and was famously yanked from the PlayStation Store. For many, the initial experience was so fraught that the game's compelling world, characters, and story were completely buried under a digital avalanche of bugs. It wasn't until 2021, after months of intensive patches, that players could even begin to see the diamond in the rough. Yet, CD Projekt Red didn't cut and run. Instead, they embarked on a multi-year mission to fix their fractured future.
What followed was a masterclass in post-launch support, transforming the title through:
-
Relentless Bug Squashing: A continuous stream of patches aimed at stability.
-
Crossover Content: Integrating elements from the hit Edgerunners anime.
-
A Next-Gen Overhaul: A significant update for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S that enhanced visuals and performance.
-
Quality-of-Life & Content Drops: New apartments, vehicles, and gear to flesh out the world.
This consistent stream of improvements laid the groundwork, but the true renaissance arrived in late 2023 with the one-two punch of the Phantom Liberty expansion and the game-altering Update 2.0. While Phantom Liberty was a paid story expansion, the 2.0 update was a free gift to all players (except those on last-gen consoles), fundamentally rebuilding the game from the ground up.
The scale of these changes cannot be overstated. Update 2.0 wasn't a simple tune-up; it was a complete engine overhaul for the entire Night City experience. It addressed core criticisms and reinvented major gameplay systems, making the 2026 version of the game almost unrecognizable from its 2020 ancestor.
| Major System | Pre-2.0 State | Post-2.0 Revolution |
|---|---|---|
| Police System | Cops spawned directly behind you. | A proper, escalating GTA-style wanted system with vehicular pursuit. |
| Enemy AI | Often braindead and predictable. | Overhauled to be more aggressive, tactical, and use the environment. |
| Vehicle Combat | Non-existent. You were a sitting duck. | Added the ability to shoot from cars and use mounted weapons. 🚗💥 |
| Skill Trees (Perks) | A messy, often unbalanced web. | Completely rebuilt with more distinct, powerful, and fun archetypes. |
| Armor System | Clothing stats ruled, forcing fashion disasters. | Separated from clothing, allowing for style and substance. |
Then came Phantom Liberty. This expansion wasn't just more content; it was a concentrated dose of everything CD Projekt Red does best. It delivered a spy-thriller narrative with genuine emotional weight, introduced the vibrant and dangerous new district of Dogtown, and gave players powerful new abilities and gear. It served as the perfect showcase for all the improvements of Update 2.0, proving that the core game could now support a story of that caliber without technical hiccups.
So, is it an "ongoing game"? In the purest, live-service sense, perhaps not. There's no battle pass, no seasonal grind. But if the category's spirit is to honor games that have demonstrated exceptional long-term support and evolution, then Cyberpunk 2077's nomination is not just reasonable—it's poetic. The game has been in a state of constant, meaningful change for years. The team didn't just fix bugs; they listened, learned, and rebuilt. They turned a broken promise into a fulfilled one.
For the fans who stuck around, and for the new players discovering Night City in its current, polished form, the nomination is a validation. It signals that a game's legacy isn't written at launch, but over time. In 2026, Cyberpunk 2077 stands not as a cautionary tale, but as a testament to what dedicated post-launch support can achieve. It went from being a game everyone talked about for the wrong reasons to a game worthy of discussion for all the right ones. Whether it takes home the award or not, its place on that nominee list is a victory in itself—a shiny, chrome-plated trophy for one of the gutsiest comebacks in gaming history. 😎