Cyberpunk 2077 Updates and Free DLC Delayed to 2022 - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 November 2021 / 3,325 Views
CD Projekt RED recently delayed the next-generation version of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition. Cyberpunk 2077 will now launch for the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 in the first quarter of 2022, while The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition will launch for the Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC in the second quarter of 2022.
The developer has now updated its roadmap for Cyberpunk 2077 delaying "updates, improvements, and free DLCs" from later in 2021 until 2022.
Read the latest FAQ on the roadmap below:
Q: Why is there such a gap between PC versions of Cyberpunk 2077 and old-gen consoles?
A: Cyberpunk 2077 is huge in scope, it features a multitude of custom objects, interacting systems and mechanics. In the game, everything is not stretched out over flat terrain where we can make things less taxing hardware-wise, but condensed in one big city and in a relatively loading-free environment. We made it even more difficult for ourselves by first wanting to make the game look epic on PCs and then adjusting it to consoles — especially old-gens. That was our core assumption. And things did not look super difficult at first, while we knew the hardware gap, ultimately, time has proven that we've underestimated the task.
Q: What was the main issue that made development for consoles that difficult?
A: The main culprit was having to constantly improve our in-game streaming system for old-gen consoles. Streaming is responsible for “feeding” the engine with what you see on screen, as well as the game mechanics. Since the city is so packed and the disk bandwidth of old-gen consoles is what it is, this is something that constantly challenged us.
Q: Didn’t you test old-gen consoles to keep tabs on the experience?
A: We did. As it turned out, our testing did not show many of the crashes you experienced while playing the game. As we got closer to launch, we saw significant improvements each and every day, and we really believed we’d deliver in the final day zero update.
Q: Why was there a gap between PC and console reviews?
A: We started sending out PC review keys to start the review process in the first week of December. Come December 10th, launch day, we had a really good start with PC reviews, and while it’s not perfect, this is a version of the game we were, and still are, very proud of. When it comes to the review process for consoles, at the same time PC codes were sent out we were still working hard to improve the quality of the game on old-gen consoles. Every extra day that we worked on the day zero update brought visible improvement — that’s why we started sending console codes for reviews on the 8th December, which was later than we had planned.
Q: What have you done since launch to make the game better?
A: Our top priority since launch has been to fix bugs in Cyberpunk 2077. We have already released ten updates to the game which have improved the game, and we’re not done yet.
Q: What are you going to do going forward to fix Cyberpunk 2077?
A: We are focused on fixing the bugs and crashes players are experiencing across every platform. You can expect more in the way of patches — both small and large — to be released in the future. Our plans for supporting Cyberpunk 2077 in the long-term are unchanged, and we will continue to introduce updates and patches to give all players across all consoles and PCs a better experience with the game.
Q: You have said there would be free DLC for the game in ‘early 2021’, will this be impacted by improvements?
A: We’re still planning on releasing free DLC for the game, just like with The Witcher 3. However, we have decided that our priority is working on the most important fixes and updates. So far, we have released the first DLC pack together with Patch 1.3, and we will be releasing more in the future — we’ll have more to say about that in the coming months.
Q: When can we expect the next-gen update for Cyberpunk 2077?
A: We are planning to release the free, next-gen update for Cyberpunk 2077 in 2022. We’re aiming for the first quarter of the year and we’ll reveal more when we have more to share.
Q: Are you making the team crunch to work on the patches?
A: The team is working to bring relevant fixes to the game without any obligatory overtime. Avoiding crunch on all of our future projects is one of our top priorities.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Wat a complete joke
Big Surprise here!
Delayed, then ultimately cancelled watch. What a disappointment.
If they actually stick to their guns and deliver everything they've promised, even if delayed, I'll applaud them, just like I did with Hello Games after the NMS disaster.
I'm still not convinced releasing the game when it was released was a good idea, but they certainly seem to have the right idea about how to move forward.
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