Players will not be able to play a next-gen version Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles like Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 or Microsoft's Xbox Series X – at least, not anytime soon.
Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release on September 17, 2020, and will be available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. The game explores the dystopian Night City, giving users the chance to play as V, a customizable mercenary who is highly skilled in apocalyptic warfare. The fact that the game is debuting at the end of this console generation has fueled speculation over what its next-gen counterpart will look like, but for now the details remain vague about how Cyberpunk 2077 will be enhanced and upgraded for next-gen playing.
Although the game hasn't been included in the list of confirmed PS5 games, the developers have already stated that there are plans to bring Cyberpunk 2077 to the next generation of video game consoles, but it's not something they're currently making a priority. Just because it's not at the forefront of their minds, however, doesn't mean a PS5 version of Cyberpunk 2077 isn't going to arrive eventually.
Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 & Xbox Series X: Everything CD Projekt Red Has Confirmed
CD Projekt Red (CDPR), the Polish developer behind Cyberpunk 2077, clarified earlier this year that there is no official date set for when the game will be available on next-gen consoles. "When it comes to a proper, full-blown next-gen version, that’s going to come later," Michal Nowakowski, the SVP of Business Development for CDPR, stated in April (via VGC). "We haven’t announced when and I don’t have a new comment here on that."
This likely comes as a surprise for many fans, especially considering CDPR used the game to show off Xbox Series X’s new Smart Delivery feature. CDPR was the first third-party developer to establish its support for Smart Delivery, the new Xbox Series X element which will provide players upgraded versions of their favorite games in the future, thereby ensuring they don’t need to re-purchase the game to play it on the next-gen console. Many fans assumed this would mean an enhanced version of Cyberpunk 2077 would be accessible on the newer consoles as soon as they launched, though this is clearly no longer the case.
Cyberpunk 2077's Forwards Compatibility, Xbox Smart Delivery, & Sony
CD Projekt Red has confirmed, however, that Cyberpunk 2077 will be forwards compatible with next-gen consoles, and this DOES allow players to play the game as soon as they have access to the new consoles. In other words, while an enhanced next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 will not be available right away, a port of the game will still be compatible from the start.
While the details for how this will work on the Xbox Series X have been publicized, there is less known about how this will work on the PS5. As reported by Games Radar, since Sony has not yet revealed a rival feature to Smart Delivery, CDPR is currently just sitting tight. “A patch will be available to everybody who purchases the Xbox One version here and now from the get-go, once that update is live, they’ll be able to download that free of charge," Nowakowski said. "It’s PlayStation that first needs to address these issues and... we can’t jump the gun ahead of them.”
Despite the uncertainty of the future of Cyberpunk 2077 on next-gen consoles, the game is still on track to be released at the beginning of this fall. In a financial report released by CDPR on May 28th, the developer confirmed the game is in its final stages of development. They’ve also increased the budget of the project due to the final form it’s taking. “This increase is mainly due to ongoing development of Cyberpunk 2077, which has entered its final, most intensive pre-release development phase,” CDPR explained.
While it's unclear when Cyberpunk 2077 will properly release on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, players can rest easy knowing they will be able to play the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game on their new consoles... it just may not look quite as good as it possibly can.
Sources: Games Radar, VGC