CD Projekt Red's hotly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 launched to, at best, mixed receptions. Many considered the game to be one of the best RPGs of 2020, at least on PC, while others ridiculed it for the plethora of performance issues, game-breaking bugs, and glitches, particularly on old consoles. Adding fuel to the fire is the plethora of lawsuits that rained down on the company, as well as a recent hack that leaked out many of the company's games' source code.
Amid all the chaos, Cyberpunk 2077's developer released a roadmap that vaguely represents what lies ahead in 2021. After the game would get rid of the bugs and glitches with planned out patches, CD Projekt Red will deliver an upgraded version of Cyberpunk 2077 for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
A Second Launch, Perhaps?
Cyberpunk 2077 enjoyed long stretches of fan-hype, ever since its original announcement way back in 2012. Much of this can be attributed to the company's great track record with The Witcher series as well as the hype behind the original Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop game. The game continued to gather more and more fans, while the developer said all the right things about the game, as well as the plethora of mechanics and freedom of approach it would offer to its players.
Simply put, it isn't an understatement to claim that it didn't deliver. After a plethora of painful delays, Cyberpunk 2077 finally released on December 10th, 2020. Most fans already know about the game's disastrous launch, with the original consoles delivering unplayable framerates most of the time on top of all the horrifying bugs. The situation worsened to a point where Sony pulled Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation store, in the wake of rising complaints regarding its technical problems.
Almost 3 months in, a major chunk of the fanbase seems to have moved on from the game, making peace with the fact that Cyberpunk 2077 will never be the game that they wanted it to be. The proposed next-gen upgrade could what's needed to convince them to give the game a second chance. The game already performs better on the newer consoles, so with the recent patches and devoted upgrade, it seems likely that some face could be saved. It may not be the next No Man's Sky, but it's something that can hopefully leave its past behind. Overall, there is a lot more that can be achieved with the power of these newer machines, and CDPR has already promised ray-tracing support among a plethora of other improvements to the experience in the upgrade.
Cyberpunk 2077's reliance on world-building and state-of-the-art animation mean that high visual fidelity is quintessential to experiencing Night City in all its glory. The PC version already benefits from ray-tracing support and its addition on the newer consoles would mean a difference of night and day. Faster load times and use of next-gen features such as DualSense's haptic feedback would also add a lot to the experience. With a bunch of free DLCs and a full-fledged Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer mode in the works (although as its own thing), CDPR should make a strong case for Cyberpunk 2077 on next-gen being the definitive version of the game.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrades are in the works.