Cyberpunk 2077 has finally arrived, but it can now add faulty HDR settings on PS5 and Xbox Series X (and possibly other platforms) to its lengthy list of launch problems. Since the eight-year wait ended this week, it's hardly had the grand debut that players were anticipating, triggering accidental DMCA violations, inducing seizures with strobing lights, and suffering from a general lack of polish and glitches galore.
CD Projekt Red's futuristic cyberpunk title had a rather rocky road to the finish line since it was announced in 2012 - beset by delays, bugs, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the studio's fame as the creator of the acclaimed Witcher series meant that fans were confident that the title would be worth the wait. It was also some consolation that, as frustrating as the constantly moving release dates were, that the developer seemed determined to produce a quality product. But the launch has been anything but quality as far as AAA releases normally go. Some of the glitches were admittedly pretty funny (like one causing breasts and penises to hang out of clothing), while others have been unfortunately catastrophic. A swift patch was released to address the issues, including the issues with copyrighted music and strobe lights inducing seizures in epileptic players, but this doesn't mean the game's problems are over just yet.
Graphics-savvy players noticed when playing Cyberpunk 2077 on the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X (which, of course, have much greater graphical fidelity and power than their PS4 and Xbox One predecessors) that the game's HDR isn't exactly what one would call 'functional.' In fact, HDTVTest recommends skipping HDR for SDR entirely, demonstrating the former's lack of functionality in greater depth in the video below:
When playing with HDR enabled at any setting, it results in poor contrast, washed out colors, and a lack of true blacks - hardly the sort of visuals owners of OLED TVs and powerful current gen consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X would expect, especially when the consoles have proven perfectly capable of enhancing already impressive visuals in other titles using HDR. It's not quite as annoying (or funny) as character's private bits poking out of their clothes, and it can be mitigated by disabling HDR settings entirely. However, it's important to note that can't be done only in-game - HDR must also be disabled in the consoles' system settings, as each will still use Auto-HDR by default, even if it's disabled in Cyberpunk 2077's settings menu.
Of course, none of this is meant to suggest that Cyberpunk 2077 is a "bad game," because it isn't. A lot can be said about how frustrating the constant launch issues have been and the development practices that got CDPR here, but the problem with the HDR setting is hardly catastrophic to the gameplay - just a minor annoyance. Nevertheless, the game is still tremendously successful as far as sales and critical response go, and is absolutely still worth playing.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia.
Source: HDTVTest