CD Projekt Red has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed by 21 days and will now launch on December 10. It was originally set for release on November 19 but, according to a statement from studio execs Adam Badowski and Marcin Iwinski, shipping the game on PS4/Pro, Xbox One/X, and PC, alongside next-gen versions for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Stadia has been a challenge, especially under work from home conditions.
“Since Cyberpunk 2077 evolved towards almost being a next-gen title somewhere along the way, we need to make sure everything works well and every version runs smoothly,” the statement continues. “We’re aware it might seem unrealistic when someone says that 21 days can make any difference in such a massive and complex game, but they really do.”
The pair also clarified that recent news that the game had gone gold doesn’t mean work on the game was complete, as the team is able to continue refining the experience. The time the studio had allotted to doing this post-certification work is what was miscalculated, thus resulting in the delay. You can read the full statement from Badowski and Iwinski below.
After two previous delays, the studio said in September that Cyberpunk 2077 wouldn’t be delayed again, with the November 19 date being the final, cemented release date. CD Projekt Red later instituted mandatory extra work, with studio head Badowski saying the game was nearing completion in his statement confirming the crunch period.
“These last 6 weeks are our final sprint on a project we’ve all spent much of our lives on,” Badowski wrote. “Something we care for deeply. The majority of the team understands that push, especially in light of the fact that we’ve just sent the game to cert and every day brings us visibly closer to shipping a game we want to be proud of.”
It is expected that, like many games, Cyberpunk 2077 will have a day-one patch but CDPR hasn’t confirmed what to expect in it. Although the game will be playable on Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5, it won’t be native to those consoles. CDPR has promised free upgrades are coming for the new consoles, but has not set a release target for those versions.
“Today, we’ve decided to move the release date of Cyberpunk 2077 by 21 days. The new release date is December 10th. Most likely, there are many emotions and questions in your heads, so, first and foremost, please accept our humble apologies.
The biggest challenge for us right now is shipping the game on current-gen, next-gen, and PC at the same time, which requires us to prepare and test 9 versions of it (Xbox One/X, compatibility on Xbox Series S|X, PS4/Pro, compatibility on PS5, PC, Stadia)…while working from home. Since Cyberpunk 2077 evolved towards almost being a next-gen title somewhere along the way, we need to make sure everything works well and every version runs smoothly. We’re aware it might seem unrealistic when someone says that 21 days can make any difference in such a massive and complex game, but they really do.
Some of you might also be wondering what these words mean in light of us saying we achieved gold master some time ago. Passing certification, or ‘going gold,’ means that the game is ready, can be completed, and has all content in it. But it doesn’t mean we stop working on it and raising the quality bar. On the contrary, this is the time where many improvements are being made which will then be distributed via a Day 0 patch. This is the time period we undercalculated.
We feel we have an amazing game on our hands and are willing to make every decision, even the hardest ones, if it ultimately leads to you getting a video game you’ll fall in love with.”
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