CD Projekt Red has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed to December 10th from its previous release date of November 19th.
In the post published to Twitter, head of studio Adam Badowski and CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwiński expressed their regret for the decision. This will be the third delay that Cyberpunk 2077 has suffered in 2020, as it was originally slated to launch in April, then in September, then in November. "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," explained the two.
Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red told investors that the development of Cyberpunk 2077 was proceeding as planned, in spite of the pandemic's impact on the world's economies and industries. "Everything else we are either already past that hurdle so we're not really impacted by it, or things are progressing smoothly or business as usual," claimed senior vice president of business development Michal Nowakowski. This message was iterated again when the studio delayed the game from September to November, and the additional time was required to iron out the gameplay experience and remove as many bugs as possible.
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However, the latest setback that the team had to suffer was the admission of mandatory crunch in the lead-up to the game's launch. "Starting today, the entire (development) studio is in overdrive," said Badowski in an internal email, meaning that employees would be working six days a week until November 19th. CD Projekt Red was heavily criticised for this decision, as it had already stated that it would not ask developers to stay in the office longer than they wanted to to improve the game.
Badowski and Iwiński apologised for the fourth delay, and explained why the launch date has been moved even though Cyberpunk 2077 had gone gold only recently. "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," they began. "Passing certification, or 'going gold', means the game is ready, can be completed, and has all content in it. But it doesn't mean stop working on it and raising the quality bar."
In summary, management had "undercalculated" the time needed to ensure that the day zero patch would contain all of the required additions and fixes. "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," they concluded. Cyberpunk 2077 will launch for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC on December 10th.
Featured Image Credit: CD Projekt RedTopics: Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red
