'CDPR Deserves a Lot of Credit': Tech Experts Praise Cyberpunk 2077's Anticipated PS5 Pro Mode

It’s one of the best-looking games ever made, so there’s always been intense demand for a PS5 Pro version of Cyberpunk 2077.

And on 8th April, the sci-fi RPG epic will be updated to take full advantage of Sony’s supercharged hardware, for free. As the tech experts at Digital Foundry note, dev CD Projekt RED deserves a lot of credit for this kind of post-release support.

There are three options to choose from, with Ray Tracing Pro being the one of most pertinent interest to DF.

This is described as an “all-in” mode, which prioritises many of the release’s fanciest ray tracing features. It outputs at 30fps on 60Hz displays and 40fps on 120Hz displays, with some minor drops in the latter format.

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But this massively improves upon the base PS5’s quality mode, bundling in all kinds of improved shadows and lighting improvements. Given the dense nature of the game’s scenery, this is particularly noticeable in the way neon signs and billboards more authentically illuminate their surroundings.

Ray tracing also comes in the form of reflections, although DF does note you’re not getting all those glossy puddles seen on high-end PCs. Instead, the reflections are limited to windows and glossy paints, which still look great but obviously can’t compete with a top-of-the-line rig.

The internal resolution sits at 1440p upscaled to native 4K using PSSR2, and image quality is good – although the tech experts wonder if CDPR could have settled on a lower internal resolution and pushed the effects harder.

Resolutions are similar on Ray Tracing mode, although the ray tracing is dialled down to achieve 60fps. Here the shadows and reflections are included, but some of the other features from the Ray Tracing Pro mode are removed to hit the higher frame rate.

Performance is good overall, although there are dips, likely caused by CPU limitations, DF hypothesises.

If you are a frame rate freak, though, you may be tempted by the Performance mode, which turns off all ray tracing and delivers a much higher overall resolution.

If you’re playing on a 120Hz display, this mode will target 90fps, delivering pretty impressive performance on a VRR panel. It does fluctuate a little and dynamic resolution scaling is required to get this working, but it’s a nice option to have if you’re more concerned with gameplay than nifty reflection features.

While this covers the full array of PS5 Pro options, it’s worth noting that PSSR2 is once again getting rave reviews. This is made more obvious by the inclusion of an FSR 2.1 toggle, which DF believes may have been included due to the patch being developed for the original PSSR.

Those of you who’ve owned Sony’s souped-up system for some time will know that the original PSSR didn’t always work ideally, and so the tech experts believe the FSR 2.1 toggle may have been included to give users the option.

However, now PSSR2 is here there’s really no reason to enable that, as the upgraded upscaler runs rings around FSR 2.1 and is the recommended way to play.

You can find more comparisons and footage on Digital Foundry’s website, and we’ll of course update you with our own thoughts when we’ve had a chance to try it out.