Much to everyone’s chagrin, CD Projekt Red announced earlier this month that Cyberpunk 2077, which was originally supposed to be released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in April, is being delayed until the fall. Shortly thereafter, a Polish insider provided a potential reason for the delay, saying that the highly-anticipated first-person open-world game was being pushed back because, while it runs well on the PC, it doesn’t run well on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.
In response to the story, God of War’s director, Cory Barlog, said that every game runs poorly until developers are nearing the end of a game’s development cycle.
Shortly thereafter, CD Projekt Red’s senior quest designer, Phillip Weber, downplayed the rumored reason for Cyberpunk 2077’s delay. He also responded to Cory Barlog’s tweet, saying that the God of War director hit the nail on the head.
“Cory Barlog hit the nail on the head,” said CD Projekt Red’s senior quest designer. “Of course we’re optimizing for the Xbox One, and for the PlayStation, and for the PC, because that’s what you do in the last stretches of game development. While the game is made, lots of things are unoptimized, because they’re all in flux, changing, and still not finished. So simple answers like, ‘They delayed the game because of X’ might make for a good rumor, but don’t hold a lot of truth.”
After CD Projekt Red announced Cyberpunk 2077’s new release date, they also revealed that its multiplayer mode, which is in the early stages of development, likely won’t be released until 2022. So, we’ll have to wait at least two years to take CDPR’s newest IP online.
Not that it’s going to be released three months before the next-gen consoles hit the market, people have been asking if Cyberpunk 2077 will also be made for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but as of right now, the devs have said that, while they’re looking into a next-gen port, their main priority is the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Following the delay, the developers stated that they’re confident that they’ll be able to meet the new release date, promising fans that there won’t be another delay. So, we’ll see if they’re able to keep their word.
As of right now, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to be released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 17, and will ship as a single-player only experience.
