Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 next-gen upgrades still on track for this year

With just three months left in 2021, developer CD Projekt Red has some big plans to cap off what has been a difficult year for the company. In its latest financial report, the company revealed that it’s still planning on releasing two games this year, both next-gen updates. According to the report, the previously announced next-gen versions of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 are still on track to arrive in “late 2021.”

Details on what players can expect from the new versions of both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt are sparse. The financial report itself makes no mention of what will be included in the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt‘s next-gen release on the other hand will come with all of the game’s expansions and “visual upgrades,” along with “extra items inspired by the Netflix series.”

While both games are slated to release later this year, CD Projekt Red has also taken some of its staff away from working on the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077. A graph included in the report shows that over half of the company’s development staff was focused on support for the game, as well as development on its next-gen version. However, as of June 30, that number has fallen substantially.

With 2021 nearly finished, CD Projekt Red is quickly running out of time to ship next-gen versions of its two latest — and bestselling — titles. The case is doubly so for Cyberpunk 2077, which is still plagued by bugs and glitches that require massive patches nearly a year out from its original release.

Editors' Recommendations

Otto Kratky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…
Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC not coming to last-gen consoles
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's new character.

CD Projekt Red today announced Cyberpunk 2077's expansion via a surprise teaser trailer. The clip shares a few details about the plot, characters, setting, and release date of the upcoming DLC. However, one of the most important details is that it won't be coming to last-gen consoles.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Teaser

Read more
The Witcher 3’s long-delayed upgrade is finally coming
Geralt from The Witcher 3 promo material.

The current-gen edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which will upgrade the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, will now launch in the fourth quarter of 2022 according to a tweet from developer CD Projekt Red.

This comes on the seventh anniversary of the original game's release in May 2015. It's still unclear when the current-gen version will launch, but we can expect it by the end of the year -- hopefully in time for the holidays.

Read more
CD Projekt Red isn’t slowing down, for better or worse
Ciri looking over her shoulder in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

The past year-and-a-half havs not been kind to Polish developer CD Projekt Red. The studio -- part of CD Projekt Group, a company that also owns the online games marketplace GOG -- faced enormous criticism with the release of Cyberpunk 2077 and has since been busy fixing the game. In the time since, the studio has faced setback after setback, with its announcements leaning more toward a project being delayed rather than good news for fans.

Outwardly though, the company is appearing to shake off the dust of Cyberpunk 2077. While its short-term ambitions are pointed exclusively at past releases, the studio has future plans. It's looking forward -- and in a big way. A recent earnings report from the company revealed that it's working on numerous unannounced projects, one of which is being co-developed by another studio, The Molasses Flood, and will be based on one of CD Projekt Red's franchises.
Flooding the pipeline
CD Projekt Red's current content plans seek to reinforce what the studio already has out there. Cyberpunk 2077 recently received a current-gen update and will get its first major story expansion next year. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is also set to get its own current-gen update, though its release date has been postponed indefinitely following CD Projekt Red's decision to bring development in-house.

Read more