Cyberpunk 2077's Multiplayer and DLC Not the Focus, As CDPR Preps Rescue Mission

Part of me can't see why they don't shelve the Witcher 3 port until Cyberpunk is in a good state? Is there that much demand that it's worth the reputational damage they're taking on 2077

situation wasnt planned didnt you put it the disc in a ps4. seriously. Ive been playing on series s and it runs fine a few glitches which come on we were all expecting. but seeing it running on a ps4 is like WTF if that.

@theheadofabroom maybee witcher port is outsourced or differnent team

I’m not expecting a PS5 version until late next year, and I am definitely not expecting the PS5 version of Witcher 3 any time next year.

They haven't planned for the backlash? Did they not know how the game ran on consoles? Of course they did, which is why they didn't show gameplay or let reviewers get their hands on review codes in advance. Maybe they thought players would just suck it up. Well, tough luck.

Release the PS5 version ASAP.

@theheadofabroom they probably have a separate team on that and it's not like you can move devs to another project and effectively start getting things done without them spending weeks getting to know the code first - it probably wouldn't do much good to have them working on the CP bugs now

The fact that every day has half the news being about cyberpunk's release proves how much of a clusterf@$k this game is.

I defenately think this will push the next gen patch back by a few months

Anyways, I'm not getting the game yet but I'm interested to see how much they can fix in the upcoming "hotfix"

CDPR 2021-2022 road plan:
January–March: fixing the mess
April–June: Next-Gen versions
July–September: first small DLC (more side missions)
October–November: Witcher 3 PS5 version
December–April 2022: a bigger DLC – you will play as the most beloved character in the game based on feedback
May 2022: Broken Multiplayer release
June–August 2022: Multiplayer fixing and apologising
September 2022: First CG trailer of a game that is planned for 2025, but will release in 2027 absolutely broken, just because they will – again – try to make the best, the largest and most complicated game to the last detail that will not work at the release just because it is really hard to combine all of this without some issues.

The game will also launch at the end of this console cycle and the game will run like garbage on base PS5.

Disclaimer: I do have a crystal ball.

I would be shocked if next-gen even drops in 2021 at this point. They have so much work to get fix what is broken. Honestly, I feel I am just playing it out of obligation since I bought it at this point.

They should offer something nice to those who don’t/can’t get a refund (and likely paid full price for it). Some kind of “early adopter” appreciation gift down the line, like an additional mission/series of missions in game or something like that...

@mrmartinrohr I honestly see next-gen versions being pushed to 2022 until they can fix all that is wrong in the current gen versions.

They could also just hire a company that really knows how to get every last bit of performance out of previous gen machines, like Bluepoint, to help them fix it...

The real issue here is that they're stuck working on a game for the next few years that is full of out of date tropes and mechanics and ultimately not that great or much fun to play. The prospect of staying in this world to play a mediocre multiplayer that probably won't even work for the first year or so is not appealing in the slightest.

I'm enjoying it, but the NPC's AI in particular is embarrassing. If I were CDPR I'd fix the game, drop it and move on as soon as possible.

@jmac1686 If we take into account that this spring, they pushed the game to September, but said: it's more or less finished – you can play thru the game but it still needs polishing. Then it was delayed twice again and here we are in mid-December with an unfinished game, who knows.

I'm really sorry for all of the departments at CDPR that have nothing to do with this mess and made their best work in time – this situation must be really hard for them.

@Old-Red Story wise when I am in missions and side missions, I am enjoying it. When I have to traverse the city with its brain-dead NPCs and a false sense of being alive? It's a chore. I also find that the map and Night City is designed in a way where there truly is no sense of place, so it just all washes together into dark, scummy city poop. I end up just looking at the mini map when running to the next mission area since I have zero sense of where I am anyway.

CDPR: releases PS5 version ASAP

Gamers: What a buggy, unplayable mess! Shame on you, CDPR!

😅 Have we learnt nothing? @AFCC

@Old-Red And they will release a game in 2027, that will feel like a 2021 game. That's just a side effect of these development cycles when they try to make the biggest and best game of all time. Maybe just make a smaller game if it is too much to handle for you? They really should think about the future in long term, because it is going in the direction I'm describing and it will be baaaaad for everybody.

@jmac1686 I have switched off the minimap exactly for this reason. I find I end up just staring at the corner of the screen most of the time in open world games like this. After playing Red Dead 2 without a minimap I won't go back. It forces you to actually look at the environment and you slowly start to recognise landmarks and stuff too. I also like the extra orientation challenge it provides instead of just following a yellow brick line.

@Warspite2901

Appears not.

Agree it's partially that type of talk that got us in this mess too begin with. Not saying the developers are at fault, they are but where under pressure to get it out and death threats didnt help, in ideal world they should of just been up front with the problems and delayed the ps4 and Xbox one , but from a business standpoint I can see why it was releashed.

The ps4 and Xbox one versions should be top priority , it's still the largest player base for them. Multiplayer etc should be put on hold.

@mrmartinrohr Rockstar seem to cope alright. I think once you approach the five year mark for developing a game something isn't right. Saying that I just checked and RDR2 took 7 years. But the world and NPCs in that game are a night and day difference, it took a year less than Cyberpunk 2077 and was a much more stable experience on launch.

@Old-Red that was totally me as well with RDR2. Regardless of the gripes one may have with the gameplay, It had some pretty solid UI implementation. I could flip on the minimap with the click of a button for a few seconds if I was really in a bind, but had it off for 99.8% of the game. I think HZD did something similar too. LOVE it when games let you turn on/off the minimap/compass on the fly like that

Timeline for Witcher 3 port should be unaffected because its being ported by Saber Interactive (who did the Switch port), rather than CDPR themselves. But as no date was announced to begin with, who knows when it will launch. Probably not until the storm over CDPR dissipates

Delaying dlc development makes complete sense. No way you can try and sell extra content when the base game is already having significant issues. Just take your time and get it right! Rebuilding reputation is going to take some time.

Be sure to launch a good product on PS5 aswell!

Anyone else see 'CDPR preps rescue mission' in the headline, and just imagine Astrobot swooping in to save the day?

@kyleforrester87 There are going to be at least another two articles about just one of the sentences from that meeting. Prepare yourself.

I dont think i'm buying cyberpunk 2077 anytime soon. I did say about June but eeh. This might be a gamepass drop for me or a $19.99 complete Ed. Buy

@Voltan it rather depends on how well architected the codebase is, how modular they managed to keep various systems, and how much of their engine is common to other projects. I often had to jump onto new codebases, and depending on all those factors it might take a couple of hours to be effective, or it might be a couple of days. Weeks would be a disaster and a total failure for project leads.

Pardon the novice question, but how do they find themselves in this situation? Assuming they have multiples of people and consoles to test and retest before launching? Did they think folks wouldn't notice?

I mean, did they know it was junk but released anyway?

Three things they need to do.

Bug fixes has to be first.

Second specific performance patches for each individual system.

Thirdly gameplay is just not up par with other ip's out there. Infact I have seen games twenty years old with better Ai and for a fps shooter it's gunplay is very ropey yes it works but it's like something from a small indy developer.

@Old-Red That's a good idea! I might try that. Although the verticality might make finding my way around tricky.

wasn't planned 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 sure

I cant wait for this game to stop being news multiple times everyday.

@Ps4dallas that's just the thing... they say they weren't aware it was that bad on base consoles but I (and probably most) find that hard to believe. Especially after they withheld any footage and review codes for console versions until the day before release.

Is it "wasn't planned" though? I'm sure cdp know there will be backlash if they're released this half baked game, they just think it's worth it for the money now rather than delay it and receive the money later.

Fail to prepare then prepare to fail!

Something like that anyway.

CDPR are just making things worse at this point, less talk more action although if this leads to more crunch will gamers be as up in arms about it as they were the crunch at ND ahead of the release of The Last of Us Part II?

My guess....no!

I have to admit that I am more disappointed in CDPR'S fall from grace than the terrible state of the game. They were supposed to be one of the last few good guys, and yet here we are, their reputation in tatters. Its going to take a lot more than few meaningless hollow corporate PR statements apologising for their clear and deliberate deceit before I can ever trust them again. Actions speak louder than words.

Their marketing team is doing a great job generating news everyday...otherwise their game will be forgotten, even though all of these statements could have been conveyed with one single apology.

Not holding my breath for the next gen patch then. Looks like I’ll be even longer waiting to play this. What a mess.

It's a good thing that Devs hate the holiday season and their families encourage them to "Crunch for Christmas"

In my opinion completely forget multi player, I can't recall anybody requesting this. Waste of resources bin it and move on to fixing current state of the game and get the ps5 version ready with witcher 3 to go also

No way they didn't know what state the console ports would be when the free DLC was announced, yet another lie on the ever growing pile.

which wasn't planned?

yeah, sure.
unless they were expecting not to fix it...

idk. I don't see the we leave greed to others no more

Multiplayer 🤦 lol 🤔 Witcher ever have multiplayer? Yes what I thought when I saw this 😂

So this will delay the ps5 version no doubt,it clearly wasn't ready they should have delayed it again and released all console versions in a fixed state ,its a fickle world where someone can go from angel to demon and vice versa in a matter of days.

Icing all plans until the game is in an acceptable, releasable, fully playable state for all players is absolutely the only viable first step forward to fixing this mess. A heartfelt apology wouldn’t hurt either.

The Witcher Upgrade is being outsourced to the team that did the Switch version anyway (Saber), so they won’t have to worry about that much. I also imagine the free DLCs’ are already developed as they are typically only visual additions cut from the base game anyway(armour, skins, perhaps some mods or new cyberware). Once they’ve fixed the poor versions, they’ll probably treat that as a fresh start and move from there. It’ll still have a major affect on the expansions and MP standalone release though. I don’t think they’re ready for the demands players have with MP releases. Fast patching, regular content etc won’t be easy and I think they’re realising this now they’re in the crosshairs with people demanding fixes NOW.
Gwent was a warm up, but card games vs a GTA online like game are completely different ball games.

It's clear that the PC version was in a releasable state, even if not well optimised, and that this is where most of the initial effort went. The console versions should have been delayed until they met the same quality bar, but it looks a lot to me like management and marketing wanted to get it out for Christmas at any cost, knowing parents, spouses etc would need a couple of weeks beforehand to shop for presents else end up buying something else.

I can't imagine anyone on the development team being happy that the game was released on console in this state, no only for pride's sake, but because games like this are a huge part of people's CV/résumé and this sort of thing affects people's future job prospects.

I don't much imagine the death threats affected the release date, just the team's morale and mental health, which likely will have had a knock-on downward effect on the quality of people's work.

Part of me is thinking about how a couple of decades ago the solution to all of this was supposed to be episodic content. Nail the first 2 hours of gameplay and release the next episode when it meets the same bar, but that has repeatedly been a commercial failure with most studios abandoning the practice, some pivoting into service games, and others like Telltale just having problem after problem until they go bust.

@Voltan Not to be pedantic, but they do have 'base consoles' to test on, so why the big surprise? I still don't get that they seem so surprised....

@theheadofabroom The Witcher 3 next gen upgrade is being outsourced to Saber, the same team behind the UHD version and Switch port.

@kyleforrester87 sadly seems to be how "journalism" works these days. Skim through a press release (or in the case of Disney/Marvel a shareholder meeting, or an interview with a musician) and work out how many articles you can wring out of it before the clicks dry up

@theheadofabroom I imagine there are separate teams. I doubt you need all 500 or so people working on fixes.

I own Withcer 3 on PS4, but never played more than 10 hours because it always felt awkward to play. But I'd be more than happy to repurchase it on PS5.

They must have known that the game was a buggy mess. There's no way that they hadn't gone through hours and hours of testing on the game and thought "Yeah, this is pretty solid. Well done guys...that's a rap". They released it, hoped that only a few would notice and a patch would have been out before any fuss was created.

@kyleforrester87 just curious, did you listen to the conference meeting yourself? It was about 45 minutes long and mostly featured a Q&A session where multiple people calling in asked various questions regarding the state of Cyberpunk.

It wasn’t just one statement that is being chopped up into multiple articles. They were fielding all sorts of questions from, I assume, investors that covered a wide range of topics.

It may get overlooked, but the hotlink in the "emergency board meeting" text in the article leads to a transcript of said meeting - and it is VERY fascinating to read.

@Uromastryx They're just trying to cash in on the success of GTA5s online multiplayer. That's the cash cow and it will keep being milked till it can literally no longer stand on its on 4 legs, then they'll prop it up and continue to milk it till everyone is sick of milk.

@DonJorginho I have seen a couple of people state this authoritatively in comments, but not via any official sources, for a link?

@Salohcin sure you don't need 500 people working on it, it depends on how much priority you want to give it. I've worked on projects where there have been critical issues and literally anyone who isn't directly writing code, composing assets, or talking customers or investors down has been dragged into testing, and developers from that project have been paired with developers from other projects, because many eyes makes every issue easy to spot.

Obviously this is extreme, but it's possible, and it's one of the few moves they have left if they don't want a second wave of complaints and reputational damage come Boxing Day.

@ISD1982
Yeah they can try but when GTA5 came yeah had some bugs and whatever quickly fixed and were minor cdpr have already lost their tryst with people venturing into multi player at least not til normal game works 100%

@HeyItsFlapjack fascinating indeed, thanks for highlighting it.

@AJDarkstar I can't say for certain, but I'd have expected them to make a statement to that effect if so. You'd expect there to be another article on this site about it, given the number about this one phone call.

@theheadofabroom

This news was given by CD Projekt head, Adam Kicinski, during an investor briefing. During this he explained that CD Projekt Red chose to partner with Saber Interactive for this new version of The Witcher 3 so that it doesn’t interfere with the development of Cyberpunk 2077. Speaking of, Cyberpunk 2077 will also be coming to next-gen consoles, but that version will be developed in-house by CD Projekt Red.

“Regarding The Witcher 3 and its next-gen version: this project is developed outside, with our proven partner who had delivered the 4K version of The Witcher 3 and The Witcher 3 for Switch, so they already know our technology very well. We asked them to prepare the next-gen port, and as I said during my presentation, we expect a full next-gen experience, with great next-gen features, but it doesn’t interfere with the next-gen development of CP, which is being done internally by the CP team, and we’re confirming that CP will be released in the next-gen version.”

https://www.gamereactor.eu/the-witcher-3-for-nextgen-in-the-works-at-saber-interactive/

https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/saber-interactive-working-on-the-witcher-3s-graphical-overhaul/

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/cd-projekt-confirms-next-gen-the-witcher-3-is-being-developed-externally/

@DonJorginho cheers!

Every time I watched a promotional event for Cyberpunk 2077 I was like "Wow, amazing.. how the hell will they make this game run on a PS4?" Now I got my answer: they didn´t. As I tryed playing it on my PS4 I felt like I was taking all of the bad from the Cyberpunk theme without any of the good. It was, effectively, a dystopian experience where technology and corporations failed us.

The random NPCs seemed as lifeless as the trash cans. Speaking of trash cans, the ability to move objects (one the hallmarks of the Immersive Sim genre) is completely absent. At a moment in the game I decided I would like to shave, but I guess the techonolgy isn´t there yet. Maybe the beard is not that bad, let me check in the mirror, suddenly my char is bald - and the beard really is that bad. Every 10 seconds the chances of getting an immersive experience during gameplay gets completly vanished away, sometimes together with a NPC or a vehicle. Everything is blurry and distorted. It feels like a ghastly place where I am not sure the objects I am looking at is really there and where people pass right through me.

Even if they fix all the bugs and the performance issues the game will still be far from what people expected. It is hard to pinpoint the core problem(s) at the moment but I would say one of them is that CD Projekt Red got to much carried away by the Cyberpunk theme and ended up creating a place (game world) that I am not so sure anymore I would like to spend much time in. Cyberpunk 2077 was the oasis everyone wanted to reach and ended up being just a mirage - especially for PS4 players.

How to fix this hot mess that CD Projekt Red had created? Damn.. that will be a tough one. Can they? Maybe the Cyberpunk theme itself can give some directions: Yes, everything is sh**ty and the place is all f**cked up, but at the end of the day people figure up a way to live in it, each in his particular way, and even end up having some fun doing it - provided they get the bare minimum.

@Warspite2901 let me think about this a sec: Play the PS4 buggy ugly version vs Play the PS5 buggy but somewhat prettier version...
It's not hard 😂

@AFCC 😄 The lesser of two evils, sure, but why settle for either. You're worth more than that 😉

"It's not like there are a lot of PS4 owners still."
-Someone at CDPR management team November 2020

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Ps5 version looks so good can't wait for the proper release

@Warspite2901 true that. I just think (in fact I am sure) that when the update comes I will have way better games to play.

Just give us a detailed roadmap.

@Rocco81

It’s damn terrible, the HDR is shocking!

Looks out of focus and misty whatever I tried, OH and the video options all reset every time I played the game..

Fair play though, 60fps mistathon is better than 30fps mistathon

Title should be changed: Cyberjunk 720p