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.”
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.
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.