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Cyberpunk 2077’s release has been moved from September 17 to November 19, owing to the complexity of the game’s mechanics and systems and the developer’s drive to guarantee they all work correctly.
In April, CD Projekt Red described development on the anticipated sci-fi RPG to be “business as usual.” However, it appears now that the game needs more time in the oven to ensure that the experience is as good as it can be. “Those of you who are familiar with the way we make games know that we won’t ship something which is not ready,” said CD Projekt co-founder Marcin IwiÅ„ski and head of studio Adam Badowski in a statement. “‘Ready when it’s done’ is not just a phrase we say because it sounds right, it’s something we live by even when we know we’ll take the heat for it.”
The two expressed their regret and apologised for the second delay, but stuck to their guns that it was the right thing to do. “At the same time, we are fully aware that making such a decision costs us your trust and trading trust for additional time is one of the hardest decisions a game developer can make,” they said. They also reiterated that Cyberpunk 2077 is in fact done, “content and gameplay-wise,” but it is the complexity of these systems that must be examined again and again to ensure their coherency.
“The quests, the cutscenes, the skills and items; all the adventures Night City has to offer—it’s all there. But with such an abundance of content and complex systems interweaving with each other, we need to properly go through everything, balance game mechanics and fix a lot of bugs. A huge world means a huge number of things to iron out and we will spend the additional time doing exactly that,” said IwiÅ„ski and Badowski.
When the first delay was announced, CD Projekt Red admitted that the teams of employees would still endure crunch to achieve the goals of the game before September. “Right now, we are in ‘crunch mode,’ however it’s not as bad as before,” revealed an anonymous employee. “In The Witcher 3 times, if the studio was messaged that we’re entering crunch everybody had to stay and work regardless of the fact if they had things to do… I expect there will always be people staying late resulting from a mix of deadlines and high ambition.”
Cyberpunk 2077 comes to Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 19, 2020.
