CD Projekt Red’s seemingly endless pursuit to fix Cyberpunk 2077 continues. This time it’s in regard to the next-generation upgrades that were promised earlier this year and still doesn’t have definitive release date. However, we now have a better idea of when that drop will occur. The company recently published their H1 2021 financial report, which reveals that they are targeting the next-generation upgrade for the title in “late 2021.” While that sounds fairly vague, it’s better than having no answer up to this point. However, this now begs the question, will the company have the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/Series S upgrades ready by then?
The update will be released for free and will supposedly allow the title to take full advantage of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/Serie S. Up till now, owners of the newer console have been playing them via backwards compatibility with little to no boost in performance. Unfortunately these new updates do little to comfort those who own the previous home consoles, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. At this time, it does not appear likely that a more permeant fix for these versions will be coming any time soon.
As for the actual financial aspect of the report, CD Projekt Red reported that they made roughly $124 million in the first half of the year. According to the company, this was reportedly lower than anticipated,. The overall revenue take in at all is due in large part to, Cyberpunk 2077, and the company’s tried and true title that continues to save them; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The main reason for this drop in revenue is also mostly due to the refund program that they’ve been running, offering those who requested their money back after the fallout of the Cyberpunk 2077 launch. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is also due for a next-gen update at some point.
For the game, as well as the company as a whole, this next-gen upgrade is arguably one of the last chances that the video game community will allow them. The messy and arduous release of Cyberpunk 2077 is legendary at this point and has been well documented. The game released on December 10, 2020 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Overhyped and way over anticipated, the title released essentially in an unfinished format, which was especially apparent on the PlayStation 4. So much so that Sony actually removed the game from their online store mere seven days after launching. It returned to the PlayStation Store just this past June.