Skip to main content

CD Projekt Red delays release date for Cyberpunk 2077 by 5 months

The Witcher game developer CD Projekt Red announced that it has pushed back the release date for its highly anticipated title Cyberpunk 2077  from April 16 to September 17.

According to the Polish-based game studio, the reason for delaying the game by five months was to provide the development team additional time to polish and ensure they are putting out the best product possible for their fans. “We are currently at a stage where the game is complete and playable, but there’s still work to be done,” co-founder Marcin Iwiński and studio head Adam Badowski said in a joint press release. “We need more time to finish playtesting, fixing, and polishing. We want Cyberpunk 2077 to be our crowning achievement for this generation, and postponing [the] launch will give us the precious months we need to make the game perfect.”

Cyberpunk 2077 expansion 3 three projects modes CD Projekt Red report
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While it has not been confirmed, the delay may also be another hint that Cyberpunk 2077 may become a cross-generation title for the upcoming home consoles, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. Both consoles are slated to launch near the end of 2020 during the holidays. However, firm release dates and retail prices have yet to be announced.

Recommended Videos

Announced in May 2012, Cyberpunk 2077 is an action role-playing game based on the popular tabletop RPG game by Mike Pondsmith. Set in the dystopian open world of Night City, players control a customizable cybernetic mercenary. According to CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 will be played in the first-person perspective. While the game’s setting will feature an open world with six unique regions to explore. Additionally, the developer confirmed in 2018 that actor Keanu Reeves is set to appear in the game as an NPC.

This week has seen delays for several highly anticipated titles for the 2020 gaming year. Earlier this week, Square Enix announced that two of its biggest games this year, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Marvel’s Avengers would both receive delays to allow the development teams additional time to work on the games. With Final Fantasy VII now launching on April 10 while Marvel’s Avengers received a more significant delay, with the game slated to release around the same launch window as Cyberpunk 2077.

Taylor Lyles
Based out of Baltimore, Maryland, Taylor is a contributing writer for Digital Trends covering the latest news in the computer…
A new Witcher trilogy and Cyberpunk game are in development at CD Projekt Red
Geralt drawing his sword in The Witcher 3 promo art.

CD Projekt Red announced several long-term projects, which include a new Witcher trilogy, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and a new IP.

The Warsaw-based developer gave a presentation on Tuesday giving an update on how the company has grown since Q1 2022, the performance for the original Witcher trilogy and Cyberpunk 2077 (they sold over 65 million and 20 million copies, respectively), and what its strategy will be to continue its growth going forward. During that presentation, it unveiled the three new Witcher games under the working titles Project Sirius, Project Polaris, and Project Canis Majoris, and a Cyberpunk game with the working title Project Orion.

Read more
The long-delayed Skull and Bones loses its 2022 release date
Skull and Bones

Ubisoft has announced that it has delayed its upcoming pirate adventure game, Skull and Bones (again), to March 9, 2023. It was originally slated to launch on November 8 this year.

"Ahoy there, privateers. Our team is hard at work polishing and balancing the experience ahead of the worldwide launch. As a result, we’ve made the tough decision to move our release date to March 9, 2023," Ubisoft says in a statement. "We’re very eager for you all to get your hands on Skull and Bones and dive in headfirst to the dangerous and exciting world of building your own pirate empire. To give you the best possible experience we’ve decided to take a little more time to make sure we can deliver exactly that."

Read more
CD Projekt Red isn’t slowing down, for better or worse
Ciri looking over her shoulder in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

The past year-and-a-half havs not been kind to Polish developer CD Projekt Red. The studio -- part of CD Projekt Group, a company that also owns the online games marketplace GOG -- faced enormous criticism with the release of Cyberpunk 2077 and has since been busy fixing the game. In the time since, the studio has faced setback after setback, with its announcements leaning more toward a project being delayed rather than good news for fans.

Outwardly though, the company is appearing to shake off the dust of Cyberpunk 2077. While its short-term ambitions are pointed exclusively at past releases, the studio has future plans. It's looking forward -- and in a big way. A recent earnings report from the company revealed that it's working on numerous unannounced projects, one of which is being co-developed by another studio, The Molasses Flood, and will be based on one of CD Projekt Red's franchises.
Flooding the pipeline
CD Projekt Red's current content plans seek to reinforce what the studio already has out there. Cyberpunk 2077 recently received a current-gen update and will get its first major story expansion next year. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is also set to get its own current-gen update, though its release date has been postponed indefinitely following CD Projekt Red's decision to bring development in-house.

Read more