Hey folks.
I tried my best to ignore the staggering amount of hate that the Internet vomited at me during the last few weeks.
I've been called retarded, a fag.ot, a disgrace to all, a greedy sh.t, a fu.king greedy loser, an entitled idiot, delusional, a pretentious fu.kin asswipe, an awful money hungry demon, one of the dumbest people alive, an absolute scumbag, a lazy corrupt ignorant POS, human garbage, moron, imbecile, clown, stupid ass n.gga, greedy c.nt. [Edit: apparently it’s perfectly fine if those words are hurled at me and nobody cares, but if I republish them people get upset. So spelling altered.]
The list just goes on forever. If you can think of an insult, no matter how far-fetched, it was there. In all its possible variations.
They say that my work is a cancer to the gaming industry. That I deserve one of two things, be sued into oblivion, or have my work implemented into games by the devs, without giving me any credit, under the threat of retaliatory litigation.
And so on.
Not only that, but disinformation piled up exponentially. With the sole exception of IGN, whose Director of News Wesley Yin-Poole was very professional and actually behaved like a journalist, corresponding with me to hear out my side of things, EVERY other news outlet just posted and reposted what read more and more like AI slop, hallucinations that grew further away from reality as each day went by.
Can I have a side of facts to go with those hallucinations, please?
So, even though haters are not going to bother reading through this, and journalists are now an endangered species which is fast disappearing from the planet, I'm going to post here my full conversation with CD PROJEKT as it actually unfolded. Due to privacy law restrictions I will only publish my own side of the exchange verbatim, and sum up the other side (although I'm fine making the entire thread public if CDPR gives me explicit permission to do so).
When the DMCA notice arrived on Jan 9, 2026, my R.E.A.L. VR framework (a flat-to-VR conversion software that analyzes and interfaces with games to provide immersive VR output) had been supporting Cyberpunk 2077 for almost 4 years; since Feb 26, 2022, to be precise.
During that 4-year period, there had been only one official contact between me/my business associates and CDPR. The text of our email to them, dated Sep 14, 2022, follows (some names have been redacted for privacy):
Dear Business Team,
Thank you for your exceptional games and services. [Redacted] commented that I should drop your team a note about a potential joint marketing opportunity around Cyberpunk 2077.
My colleagues and I are VR enthusiasts, seeking to expand the experience of games with exceptional art for re-discovery in the use of HDMI connected VR headsets. Cyberpunk 2077 plays very well when ported to support stereoscopic view in VR Head Mounted Displays.
We would like to explore the opportunity to package the VR porting framework of Luke Ross for a distributed DLC (via Gog and Steam) which would unlock a new level of experience for your customers who have already purchased the game and which would likely generate extensive new interest in new customer purchases among first-time VR players who tether to a PC.
Could you put us in touch with the appropriate person to discuss a branded DLC file that we could jointly promote/distribute?
Warm Regards,
[Redacted]
Some examples of the gameplay rendered: Cyberpunk 2077 R.E.A.L. VR Teaser
This disclosure and business enquiry email got a reply from CDPR's Business Development & Legal on Oct 12, 2022, stating that they were not looking for VR porting opportunities for Cyberpunk 2077 at the moment, but that if things should change on their end in the future they would make sure to contact us directly.
Please note that even in case they had been living under a rock, ignoring all the Internet talk and YouTube videos about how good Cyberpunk 2077 looked in VR, the previous exchange is unequivocal proof that BizDev and Legal knew about my conversion framework and decided they were fine with it existing.
Then out of the blue, more than three years later, CDPR issued a DMCA notice demanding the immediate takedown of two of my posts including the latest R.E.A.L. VR version compatible with CP2077, with the motivation "The infringer is uploading a VR mod for Cyberpunk 2077. Because access to the mod is paid, it does not comply with our rules regarding fan content. Therefore, this mod constitutes an infringement of our rights".
Please note that the fantasy scenario where CDPR contacted me asking that I make the mod free, and I stubbornly refused (some even said twice), and it was only after my denials that they issued the DMCA... that scenario is just a hallucination dreamed up either by sloppy journalism, or by AI and botnets, or by the careless echo chamber of social media hate. The DMCA arrived after years of absolute silence, and Patreon immediately removed the posts before I was even informed of the notice. Again, this is not Patreon's fault, as the law basically compels them to do that.
There was no warning, discussion or anything of the sort. CD PROJEKT S.A. knew about the VR conversion for years, they enjoyed the additional sales and game appreciation it brought to them, then one day woke up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to push a button and nuke it from orbit. Other versions you read on the Internet are either made up through disinformation or deliberately distorted.
When the DMCA hit, I wanted to be positive and to ascribe the notice to a clerical error (how could CDPR suddenly want to prevent so many of their fans from playing the game in the fully immersive way they loved, after years of tacit approval), so I decided NOT to act publicly until I found out more from them. Some of my Patrons noticed the disappearance of my two posts, but I didn't comment on it.
On Jan 10, the day after being notified of the DMCA strike, I wrote the following email to [email protected]:
Hello.
I am the creator of the R.E.A.L. VR framework, a software that allows high quality fruition in Virtual Reality of 40+ AAA games, including Cyberpunk 2077.
I received through Patreon a DMCA notice related to your game, in particular for "infringement of [your] rights" as pertains to your "rules regarding fan content" and "also trademark infringement".
The notice arrives after almost 4 years during which gamers have enjoyed playing Cyberpunk 2077 in VR immensely, often calling it the best VR experience they ever had, on par with Half Life: Alyx. For reference, Half-Life: Alyx is universally considered the most defining title for Virtual Reality.
While I'm more than willing to comply with the takedown request, and immediately cancel Cyberpunk 2077 from the growing list of titles that I support, doing so would harm a sizable proportion of your player base, who have grown used to playing CP2077 in VR as the most immersive and emotionally involving way of experiencing the gameplay and world design. Many of those users have actually bought the game with the sole purpose of playing it in VR. I do not have hard data on this, but the additional sales that the game got as a result of my enabling VR fruition range from several thousands to possibly hundreds of thousands of copies.
Here are a few examples of highly viewed YouTube videos that you can reference to verify my claims:
"Cyberpunk 2077 in VR is UNBELIEVABLE": https://youtu.be/YQ_qsSLk54s
"The Correct Way To Play Cyberpunk 2077": https://youtu.be/NJa2YBxqu5g
"The BEST VR game…that isn’t a VR game": https://youtu.be/q02UCNXLJY8
"CYBERPUNK 2077 VR on a 4090 is MINDBLOWING": https://youtu.be/dYHhVfcaXFA
I can provide other links on request.
I would like to discuss this alleged infringement of your rights with you, and if possible to find a mutually beneficial solution that is not harmful to both your and my user bases, so as to avoid any backlash.
Here are for your consideration a few key points that I would like to stress:
1. all my conversions require users to own an original (not pirated) copy of the game before installing my software, therefore they can only increase sales and never harm them;
2. I always make it abundantly clear in all my posts that all the trademarks and copyrights are the property of the original owners, and I in no way claim that they belong to me or that I have any affiliation with the developers or publishers of the games;
3. I provide no "fan content". My software offers no additional or replacement content of any kind; it simply enables a different kind of visualization. As a matter of fact, all my VR conversions always aim to maintain exactly the same gameplay experience as the original flat (2D) games in all practical aspects and whenever possible, except for the added immersion;
4. I do not have a paywall. While I certainly need the support of my user base in order to provide this extremely high level of quality and fidelity, my software can be used indefinitely and without restrictions even after the user has canceled their subscription or even closed their Patreon account.
I am positive that we can find a way to understand each other's positions and allow users to keep enjoying this very unique experience. Please write back and let us establish a communication channel.
Best regards,
Luke Ross
Legal did not reply or even acknowledge receiving my letter. So on Jan 13 I tried contacting the CDPR representative who had interacted with us back in 2022, sending them the following message:
Dear [Redacted],
We never met directly but I'm forwarding this message to you because in 2022 you were the one to reply to our enquiries regarding a VR conversion for Cyberpunk 2077.
I don't know if you are still working on the game or with CD Projekt at all, but if you are I would urge you to read the forwarded message. Following the takedown of a couple of recent posts of mine, in compliance with your DMCA notice, some of my Patreon supporters are getting antsy and I will need to make some public comments one way or the other before the matter gets picked up by YouTubers and/or the press.
Please let me know what you think.
With warm regards,
Luke
The email bounced back, leading me to think that specific person was no longer working with CDPR, so I forwarded the message to Jan Rosner, VP of Business Development:
Dear Jan,
We never met directly but I'm forwarding this message to you because my contact from a few years ago ([Redacted]) no longer seems to be reachable at her email address, so I guess she is not on your team anymore.
I would appreciate it if you could read the forwarded message and let me know what you think. Hopefully we can start a conversation. Following the takedown of a couple of recent posts of mine, in compliance with your DMCA notice, some of my Patreon supporters are getting antsy and I will need to make some public comments one way or the other before the matter gets picked up by YouTubers and/or the press.
With my best regards,
Luke
Jan Rosner replied just one hour later. He did not enter into any details, and did not seem willing to discuss my points in order to reach a business understanding so that users would not be impacted. He just politely stated that Legal would get back to me in due course, 1-2 biz days, and that they had issues with my content being monetized (as opposed to being available completely free of charge).
I replied as follows:
Dear Jan,
the pleasure is mine.
I understand the reasoning of course. However I don't think that it should apply to this case, because of several factors:
1. the software I write enables VR viewing for many games (40+ and counting), not just CP2077;
2. while I do need the support of my patrons in order to write this kind of highly complex software, the mod is not "for sale" (for example there are no restrictions in using it while not being my subscriber, or even not having an active Patreon account);
3. we did reach out to your team back in 2022, and your reply was "we are not looking for VR porting opportunities for Cyberpunk 2077 at the moment. If this should change on our end in the future, we will make sure to contact you directly."
Apart from the upcoming legal answer, which I look forward to, what I'm trying to achieve here is a solution that is beneficial to all parties involved: you, your fans and customers, and the small but not negligible user base that just loves playing your game in VR.
While it's somehow understandable that you would like all mods to be free of charge, the reality of the matter is that we are not talking about a simple tweaking of parameters or upscaling of textures that can be done in one's spare time. My framework takes a huge effort and time investment to develop and maintain. Actually, if you'll allow me a little tongue-in-cheek, keeping your game playable in VR during these years required more effort than most, because of your constant updates that kept breaking all mods :-)
So, jokes aside, I cannot afford to keep the VR conversion working without the support of my patrons. And I really don't want to have this end up in a lose-lose scenario where I need to drop CP2077 (and possibly additional future conversions of games from your company, like the Witcher 3 which everybody has been asking me to make playable in VR) from the ever growing list of titles I support, with our mutual user bases being forcibly kicked out from one of the top experiences available in VR today.
What do you say? Can we find a collaborative solution? I sincerely don't believe anybody is harming anyone here.
No reply. There was no further contact for three days. Since it was becoming hard for me to keep this matter strictly hush-hush (a full week had gone by, and many Patron were wondering why the software was no longer available under their monthly subscription) I prompted CDPR again on Jan 16, and got dismissed by Jan Rosner who just said that Legal would follow up with me. Zero comments about what would happen to users.
Legal of course simply restated what they have in their Fan Content Guidelines.
On Jan 17 I could no longer hide the matter from subscribers, so I published the post "Another one bites the dust". On Jan 19 Jan Rosner put up a brief post of his own on X (https://x.com/jan_rosner/status/2013219892405604457), and my reply to it got half a million views and all the hate you can think of, and then some.
I'm making this public because many people have been asking to hear my side of the story. I'm also leaving the comment section open. All kinds of constructive discussions and opinions are welcome, but refrain from personal attacks, name calling, profanity and insults or your comment will be deleted.
[To be continued]