Cyberpunk 2077 May Be In Worse Shape Than We Realized

Yesterday brought the disappointing news that Cyberpunk 2077 would be delayed until September. While that means waiting an extra five months before we get to dive into CD Projekt Red's latest opus, it may be a good thing. If recent comments from the Witcher developers are to be believed, then they're going to need all the extra time they can get.

Yesterday, CD Projekt Red held a conference call with some of the company's investors and various news outlets, during which they explained their reasons behind the delay. The transcript of that call has recently been posted to CD Projekt Red's website, and the comments within are illuminating. 

Though the game has been described as "complete and playable" by CDPR CEO Adam Kiciński, there's still quite a bit of work to be done. 

According to Kiciński, "we need more time to finish playtesting, fixing and polishing. We want Cyberpunk 2077 to be our crowning achievement for this generation and postponing launch will give us the precious months we need to make the game perfect."

When asked if the team would be expected to put in crunch hours — effectively working overtime to finish the game — Kiciński confirmed that this would likely be the case. This is disheartening, considering how open CD Projekt Red has been in the past regarding the grueling work hours during The Witcher 3's development. 

It feels like an unfortunate case of history repeating itself. It should be noted, however, that CDPR isn't the only company guilty of this practice. In the last few years, Rockstar Games came under fire for its "culture of crunch."

In addition, CDPR board member Michał Nowakowski confirmed on the call that the multiplayer aspects of the game would not be available when the game launches. He added that 2021 was an "unlikely" release window for Cyberpunk multiplayer, which means we may not see that drop for at least a full two years from now. This is surely a disappointing prospect for people who were looking forward to creating their own factions of enhanced humans.

Again, the delay may be just what the team needs to make this game the best it can be. It may also help keep the team from burning themselves out entirely. It's just kind of a surprise to see how much still needs to happen before Cyberpunk 2077 can be the game we all hope it is.