The next generation update for Cyberpunk 2077 will be released in the ‘second half’ of 2021

CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwiński appeared in a video today to apologize on behalf of the company and the leadership team about the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. Iwiński promises that more updates will be provided regularly along with free content, including the promised one free next generation update for PS5 and Xbox Series X, now targeting the “second half of 2021”. The CD Projekt never revealed when a next generation update for Cyberpunk 2077 will be released, except one that would be released for free in 2021. But now, Iwiński confirms that players are unlikely to see the update until the second half of the year.

As Iwiński says in the video, Cyberpunk 2077 was developed with the PC in the first place. This was reflected in the IGN analysis of Cyberpunk 2077, where the PC experience was relatively smooth, but almost impossible to play on basic PS4 and Xbox One systems.

Currently, console players, even those with PS5 and Xbox Series X systems, are playing a backward compatible version of the PS4 and Xbox One game.

The performance problems of Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles are so common that CDPR has opened an unprecedented refund policy and companies like Sony have even removed digital versions of Cyberpunk from the PlayStation Store. CDPR is also being investigated by the Consumer Protection Agency regarding the launch.

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Iwiński’s video, which is almost five minutes long, briefly addressed several questions about the release of Cyberpunk 2077, including why there is a gap between the PC and console versions of Cyberpunk 2077, and how he handled copies of review.

Dear players,

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

– Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) January 13, 2021

Regarding bringing Cyberpunk 2077 to consoles, especially the older ones, Iwiński says “things didn’t seem very difficult at first, although we knew the hardware game, ultimately time proved that we underestimated the task.”

He says the main culprit was the game’s streaming system, which is “responsible for ‘feeding’ the engine with what you see on the screen, as well as the game’s mechanics”. Iwiński cites the disk bandwidth performance on older systems as being unable to keep up with the compact city design.

Iwiński also says that his internal tests “did not show many of the problems” that the players experienced and that each day of work “there were significant improvements” in performance. But even so, Iwiński said the developers were working on optimizing the console version for the Day 0 patch until release. This explains the delay between obtaining PC review codes and console review copies on December 8, according to Iwiński.

In early 2021, CD Projekt will release several patches regularly throughout the year. The first update will be released “within the next 10 days” and a larger “more significant update” will be released weeks after that.

New CDPR script. Source: CD Projekt

There are still plans to release free DLC as with The Witcher 3, but they may not aim for “early 2021” as previously expected, as CDPR has changed its priority to “working on the most important patches and updates” and the DLC will follow later .

CD Projekt Red has faced several obstacles since the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020. The company faces lawsuits for “misrepresenting” Cyberpunk 2077 as a product and has had to deny rumors about its development problems. Despite these problems, Cyberpunk 2077 sold over 13 million copies, despite refunds, and recovered all development and marketing costs.

Matt TM Kim is an IGN reporter.