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CD Projekt Red has revealed that while it is still aiming for a late 2021 release of the next-gen update for Cyberpunk 2077, it cannot guarantee that it will make it out this year.
The remarks come from the company’s H1 2021 results call (transcribed by VGC), in which CD Projekt Red SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski noted that the company cannot make promises about the update’s release date, pointing to “lessons we have learned during the past year” – Referring to the game’s somewhat troubled launch.
Cyberpunk 2077 released in an incredibly buggy state in December last year, particularly on last-gen hardware. Facing backlash, the company offered refunds, and apologised for not showing last-gen gameplay footage prior to launch. However, this decision resulted in PlayStation pulling the game from its storefront for a time.
Much of the criticism against the game came to the conclusion that it had been rushed out in an unfinished state. It seems then that these have been hard-learned lessons indeed.
“The target is to release the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 late this year,” said Nowakowski. “At the same time, keeping in mind the lessons we have learned during the past year and taking into account that this project still remains in development, we can’t say with full certainty that the production schedule will not change.”
“With The Witcher 3, the situation is slightly different in the way that this is being tackled by the external team mainly, which is Saber Interactive, the company that we have worked with before on Switch and also with updates in the past.
“As with Cyberpunk 2077, our goal is to release that game still in late 2021. However, similarly, the development process is ongoing, and we cannot be absolutely dead certain that the release schedule will not change.
“But for the time being, we definitely are aiming with both titles for late 2021 and I don’t want to be more specific at this moment in time.”
A third of CD Projekt Red’s development team is currently working on the next-gen versions of the game, with joint CEO Adam Kiciński noting it as an “important step on our adventure in the Cyberpunk universe.”
