Cyberpunk 2077 next-gen upgrade coming in the second half of 2021

By Giovanni Colantonio January 13, 2021

CD Projekt Red announced that Cyberpunk 2077’s next-gen update will arrive in the second half of 2021. The announcement comes from a five-minute video in which the company apologized for the game’s rough launch.

In a video posted to Twitter, CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwiński outlined post-launch plans for the game. Iwiński says that the game’s PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X updates are being targeted for the back half of the year. Previously, no estimate was given for the updates.

Dear gamers,
Below, you’ll find CD PROJEKT’s co-founder’s personal explanation of what the days leading up to the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 looked like, sharing the studio’s perspective on what happened with the game on old-generation consoles. pic.twitter.com/XjdCKizewq

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) January 13, 2021

Iwiński provided a timeline showing when the game’s next updates are expected. A new hotfix is scheduled to release within the next 10 days, and a larger update will release in the following weeks. The game’s first DLC update will not come until after the patches are implemented. CD Projekt Red says it will continue to deliver fixes to the game after the initial winter patches.

The video offers a look into the days leading up to the game’s troubled launch. Iwiński explained that the game was developed with PC in mind and was adjusted to consoles after the fact. He goes on to explain that the root cause of poor performance on PS4 and Xbox One came down to the game’s in-game streaming system, which created an extensive testing process. The pivot to work-from-home development also contributed to the problem, he added.

In a follow-up blog post, CD Projekt Red addressed the topic of crunch, which was implemented to finish the game in time for release. “Avoiding crunch on all of our future projects is one of our top priorities,” one FAQ answer notes.

Cyberpunk 2077 is currently available on PC and Xbox consoles, though it was removed from Sony’s PS Store. In our post-patch review of the game, we recommended that players hold off on buying the game until further patches or the game’s next-gen update are released.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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