One of the most anticipated games of the year, CD Projekt Red's dystopian magnum opus - Cyberpunk 2077, has been delayed yet again.
This marks the third delay for Cyberpunk 2077, as the game was originally set to release on the 16th of April, which was then pushed to September 17th, until the developers finally seemed to have locked in on November 19th as the global launch day.
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, as the Twitter handle of Cyberpunk 2077 posted an important announcement, where they revealed that the game has now been delayed to December 10th:
In an official joint statement from the Polish video game developers Adam Badowski and Marcin Iwinski, the Cyberpunk 2077 team revealed that 'going gold' did not signify the end of development.
Stating that they undercalculated the time period, they revealed that they were working on several improvements, which will be distributed via a day zero patch. Citing the additional 21-day delay as crucial in making final enhancements and adjustments in order to provide a wholesome gameplay experience, the statement ended on a note of positivity, where it guaranteed a video game, 'players would fall in love with'.
Cyberpunk 2077 release date delayed- How many times has Cyberpunk been delayed ?
Cyberpunk 2077 has been going through a rather rough patch of late, as apart from production delays, the management team at CD Projekt Red has also come under the scanner over the recent 'crunch' fiasco.
From reports of employees being forced to work mandatory overtime, to contrary claims which refute such allegations, the game has somewhat been marred by the recent 'crunch' fiasco, which was highlighted by eminent game journalist Jason Schreier.
The biggest challenge which CD Projekt Red seems to be facing currently is related to the game's multi-platform release, as it is scheduled to release on Playstation, Xbox, PC, as well as Google Stadia.
In the official delay notice, this point was highlighted by the developers of the game:
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 nine versions of it
We need to make sure everything works well and every version runs smoothly. We’re aware it might seem unrealistic when someone says 21 days can make any difference in such a massive and complex game, but they really do
This makes it the third time that Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed, with reasons ranging from 'more time needed to make the game perfect', to production hassles.
Moreover, what makes this delay all the more frustrating is the fact that the makers had assured fans that there would be no more delays - a statement which has come back to haunt them:
Given the several delays, fans can only hope that Cyberpunk 2077 ends up delivering on all fronts, as the countdown to December 10th, has already begun.