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Cyberpunk 2077 Delay Reportedly Caused by Current-Gen Console Limitations
According to a Polish gaming insider, the real reasons behind Cyberpunk 2077's delay are current-generation console limitations. This explanation, if true, would actually make quite a lot of sense, as it certainly wouldn't be the first time that the aging hardware of the PS4 and Xbox One have hampered more technically ambitious titles as this generation has lagged on.
Cyberpunk 2077 had its launch pushed back from April 16 to September 17 of this year, with Polish developer CD Projekt Red citing the need to further squash out bugs and polish the game to a sheen as the reason for the decision. This delay was just one more to add to 2020's sizable pile of high-profile delays, so the announcement that the postponed RPG's multiplayer will come well after the full game's new release date wasn't so hard to swallow for an already numb gaming public. The notion that current-gen hardware limitations could've caused Cyberpunk 2077's five-month delay isn't that difficult to imagine, as CD Projekt Red long ago admitted that the controversial visual downgrade from The Witcher 3's pre-release footage to its launch state on all platforms (including PC) could be traced back to poor processing power on consoles.
In a Polish-language video interpreted by AltChar, insider Borys Niespielak says that he has it on good information that the primary reason for Cyberpunk 2077's delay is due to what an obstacle current-generation console development has proven to be. Citing anonymous sources intimately familiar with CD Projekt Red, Niespielak claims that the developer's biggest hurdle has always been the vanilla Xbox One, whose "extremely unsatisfactory" performance has apparently been the greatest limiting factor in Cyberpunk 2077's long development cycle. According to a Polish-speaking fan who translated Niespielak's biggest points, "an important person" close to the project told him years ago that "[the] game in this form has no way for it to go on this current generation," as well as the fact that a delay has long been expected.
As with anything of this nature, though, it's important to question how quickly waiting fans should be willing to take Niespielak's claims at face value. Granted, the next generation of consoles will obviously be packing a lot more under the hood than the blocky behemoth that is the original Xbox One, and will therefore be easier for developers to make games as dazzlingly demanding as Cyberpunk 2077 run on them. Some other assertions made by Niespielak in the video, though, are a little harder to believe without evidence. This includes his alleged knowledge of the upcoming title's length and replayability, in addition to his claim that CD Projekt Red has "100%" worked on a Witcher title starring Ciri.
CD Projekt Red fans likely have their fingers crossed for that last rumor, but they'd be wise to patiently wait and see if the developer one day corroborates Niespielak's report before getting their hopes up. Cyberpunk 2077 has some massive shoes to fill if it's to live up to its tabletop predecessor, so more time for the developers to perfect the final product and the arrival of brand-new hardware that will be able to do the game proper justice are the most that can be asked for in the meanwhile.
Cyberpunk 2077 will release on September 17, 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia.
