Cyberpunk 2077 was ready to go on PC and next-gen, but current-gen consoles delayed release

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Follow-up: Cyberpunk 2077 received its third delay a couple days ago, pushing its launch date back to December 10. CDPR said the delay was due to difficulties in launching the game across nine different platforms, including PC, the Xbox One/PS4, and their next-gen counterparts. Today, though, during an investors call, CDPR revealed that it's really just one set of platforms causing issues: current-gen consoles.

Disgruntled PC gamers have long maintained that aging console hardware is holding back the gaming industry, but the truth has always been much more complicated. After all, without the massive audience that consoles have gathered over the years, developers wouldn't bother making expansive AAA games at all -- there wouldn't be enough profit.

With that said, it does seem like the final stretch of Cyberpunk 2077's troubled development is a rare example of a situation where that anti-console rhetoric is actually accurate, to an extent, anyway.

According to CD Projekt (CDPR's parent company) CEO Adam Kiciński, the game would've been good to go on November 19 for PC and next-gen consoles. However, optimizing it for current-gen platforms is proving much more difficult than the team anticipated.

The following excerpt from Kiciński's opening statement during the call summarizes the situation nicely:

The game is ready for the PC and runs great on the next-gen consoles, and could be shipped on the scheduled date on those platforms. However, even though the game has been certified on the current gens by both Sony and Microsoft, some very final optimization processes for such a massive and complex game require a bit of additional time.

Answering a caller's question, Kiciński goes on to claim that releasing the game on all platforms on the 19th "was possible," but the extra three weeks of development will allow Cyberpunk 2077's developers to "get more things ready" to their satisfaction.

We have absolutely no idea what CDPR's optimization process will entail for Xbox One and PS4 owners. Will content be cut? Will the graphics be significantly tapered back? Will loading screens be introduced, after all?

At this stage, we simply can't say. However, none of us will have to wait long to find out. Cyberpunk 2077 is still only a few short weeks away, and reviews for all versions of the game will likely be going up a week (or so) before release.

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If its optimisation for current consoles, it'll almost certainly be graphics that take the hit rather than content. Or rather, the way the graphics are rendered. They may reduce textures or particle effects, reflections, shadows, it's tough making these cuts because on PC it's up to the user and the onus is on your preference for performance vs quality, but on consoles you take the decision away - I never really figured why they couldn't just use the presets of low, medium and high for graphics on consoles. They don't have to be the same presets as console but targeting say 20-30fps for high, 45-60 for medium and 60+ for low.
 
If its optimisation for current consoles, it'll almost certainly be graphics that take the hit rather than content. Or rather, the way the graphics are rendered. They may reduce textures or particle effects, reflections, shadows, it's tough making these cuts because on PC it's up to the user and the onus is on your preference for performance vs quality, but on consoles you take the decision away - I never really figured why they couldn't just use the presets of low, medium and high for graphics on consoles. They don't have to be the same presets as console but targeting say 20-30fps for high, 45-60 for medium and 60+ for low.
If they are struggling making it look half decent at 720p, 30fps or whatever they target for ps4/x-box one while optimizing for just one preset, adding more would be allot more work.
 
This doesn't sound like something that can be remedied with more time. Whatever "Optimizations" they choose to go with, the Tech/Gaming reviewers are going to take them to task on every technical deficiency.
 
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That shows how much you know about optimisation
No, it shows how much you know about jokes :yum

Typical developers that are probably focused on the more powerful platforms at this stage. This game is going to look dismal on base Xbox One versus better hardware, I can see it already. PS4 should be a lot better because it'll have had more attention, but it'll struggle with any of the high end visual features we have seen in trailers.

There is a reason why we haven't seen the base consoles running this game.
 
No, it shows how much you know about jokes :yum

Typical developers that are probably focused on the more powerful platforms at this stage. This game is going to look dismal on base Xbox One versus better hardware, I can see it already. PS4 should be a lot better because it'll have had more attention, but it'll struggle with any of the high end visual features we have seen in trailers.

There is a reason why we haven't seen the base consoles running this game.


I think that's what they are trying to avoid. I wouldn't be surprised when this game launches if performance is actually decent on the PS4 / One.
 
I wont be buying.
after seeing it had 6 pubic virginal hair types, 2 penis types and penis length adjustment I lost interest in the game and got refund from my pre purchase.
 
If its optimisation for current consoles, it'll almost certainly be graphics that take the hit rather than content. Or rather, the way the graphics are rendered. They may reduce textures or particle effects, reflections, shadows, it's tough making these cuts because on PC it's up to the user and the onus is on your preference for performance vs quality, but on consoles you take the decision away - I never really figured why they couldn't just use the presets of low, medium and high for graphics on consoles. They don't have to be the same presets as console but targeting say 20-30fps for high, 45-60 for medium and 60+ for low.
Optimisation can also mean hardware specific coding or load balancing for example. They may have more resources or more efficient instructions to use. I would most certainly believe micro-optimisations for GFX on specific hardware would have enormous gain potential - like 50-100% performance is a conservative estimate really compared to a cross-platform generically compiled variant with just settings tuning like you are suggesting.
 
I wont be buying.
after seeing it had 6 pubic virginal hair types, 2 penis types and penis length adjustment I lost interest in the game.
What you don't realize is that your choices feed back to Google to adjust your future search results.
 
I wont be buying.
after seeing it had 6 pubic virginal hair types, 2 penis types and penis length adjustment I lost interest in the game and got refund from my pre purchase.

Totally agree. There should be way more pubic hair and genital type options. Pre-order canceled.
 
This annoys me, why not delay the platforms that are not ready and release the one that is working! You would get a positive pub that way.
 
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