But is still “definitely” aiming for late 2021.
CD Projekt has told investors it “can’t say with full certainty” that its highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 and Witcher 3 next-gen updates will launch this year, despite the developer insisting it’s still aiming for a “late 2021” release.
An enhanced edition of The Witcher 3 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S – promising the likes of ray-tracing and faster loader times – was announced last September, while a “proper” next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 was touted in June 2020.
Both were initially scheduled for launch this year, but the status of each has been somewhat unclear in light of Cyberpunk 2077’s disastrous launch and the resulting studio reshuffle and revised development roadmap as CD Projekt worked to improve the base game.
Digital Foundry – Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.23 PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S.
Officially, both updates are still scheduled for release in “late 2021”, but SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski has now admitted to investors during CD Projekt’s H1 2021 results call (as transcribed by VGC) that while the studio is “definitely” still aiming to launch this year, it “can’t say with full certainty that the production schedule will not change.”
“The target is to release the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 late this year,” explained Nowakowski. “At the same time, keeping in mind the lessons we have learned during the past year and taking into account that this project still remains in development, we can’t say with full certainty that the production schedule will not change.”
It’s a similar story for the The Witcher 3 update – which is being handled externally by Saber Interactive – with Nowakowski noting that development “is ongoing, and we cannot be absolutely dead certain that the release schedule will not change.”
However, “for the time being,” Nowakowski concluded, “we definitely are aiming with both titles for late 2021 and I don’t want to be more specific at this moment in time.”
According to CD Projekt, just over a third of the company is currently working on Cyberpunk 2077 – both on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S version, as well as supporting the original game. The Cyberpunk team most recently released its “biggest patch to date”, introducing the likes of an improved minimap and, notably, a first batch of free post-launch DLC.
