Expectations for the game are increasing as its release date keeps being delayed.
Wow. We didn’t see this one coming. *Cough – Cough*. CyberPunk 2077 is being delayed, again, by another three weeks. It’s currently slated for release on December 10th, 2020 – however, one must not hold their breath with the latest release date. We’ve witnessed CD Projekt Red pretty much give a promise “confirmed” of an earlier release date to no avail. Originally its launch was due on November 19th.
Adam Badowski and Marcin Iwinski of CD Projekt Red intend on making the title available for PS4/Pro, Xbox One/X, and PC, alongside next-gen versions for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Stadia. They account the delays to challenges from working from home and the title evolving towards next-gen systems. One has to wonder why they are trying to straddle so many systems at the same time?
“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.”
“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.”
cd projekt red
The studio previously stated that the game had been given a gold status. Usually this would indicate that the title is ready to go. The bugs have been worked out, proper user testing is completed, all features have been implemented and distribution avenues have been paved. One would think that, and based on industry standards, that once a title was declared “gold” further production and feature implementation/deletion would cease. The majority of time between gold and release would be invested in refining the game and fixing bugs etc. This hasn’t been the case for CyberPunk 2077.
Apparently, new features are still being worked on. Storylines are being changed and redirected and there are even some aspects of the game being removed. This has not gone over very well with its fan base. Fans and consumers that have been waiting for the game are expressing they aren’t very happy with the broken trust with the studio. The reason being that the studio gave their word about something and then didn’t follow through on it. Some have indicated that they have had it with the studio, have cancelled their order, and vow not to purchase anything the studio produces in the future.
CD Projekt Red released the following statement via Twitter:
“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.”
It’s also not very reassuring that the studio didn’t even inform their internal employees about the delay until the news was publicly shared on Twitter. This begs the question if the studio will even be able to meet its new release date of December 10, or if it will actually be release sometime in 2021? We’ll have to wait and see.