Cyberpunk 2077 'Miracle' Tool Is Turning Heads
Update 1/4/2021: The r/pcgaming mods have removed the Reddit post referenced below and flagged it as misleading. The article has been updated to reflect this new information, however, this is still a download at your own risk situation.
CD Projekt Red made grand promises for Cyberpunk 2077 and failed to deliver, especially on last-gen consoles. The game runs much better on PC, but even that version isn't without flaws. To get the full experience (or even a decent one), you need a beefy rig, and not everyone has the scratch to pay for one. If you want a quick and easy solution, a self-styled code wizard claims to have the answer. However, this miracle solution may not be what it appears.
Recently, a coder by the name of CodeZ1LLa unveiled the EZ Optimizer for Cyberpunk 2077. The tool offers several FPS boost modes that let older cards crank up to 30 FPS out of the title. Just download the program, unzip it, insert it into your game folder, and you're good to go.
You might wonder what kind of C++ sorcery lets this unofficial tool dial Cyberpunk 2077's performance up to 11, and according to CodeZ1LLa, it "tweaks hidden developer's options" — sort of like the Watch Dogs mod that bumps the game's graphical fidelity up to E3 2012 levels. According to many users who commented on CodeZ1LLa's video and a Twitter announcement, the program works like a dream, so long as you have an older graphics card.
Of course, gamers live in an age where you can't so much as download cheats for online games such as Apex Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive without opening up your PC to info-stealing viruses. Since CodeZ1LLa promises a framerate panacea, you might suspect his code is too good to be true, and according to some users, CodeZ1LLa may just be the Mephistopheles of malware.
Several gamers on the Tom's Hardware forum who downloaded and ran the Cyberpunk 2077 optimizer claimed their antivirus programs blared warning sirens and detected malicious lines of code hidden within the tool. One (since removed) Tom's Hardware post asserted these are merely false positives, but a Reddit user claimed they had cracked the code and discovered it uses a backdoor virus designed to boost YouTube and Google ads in the background.
Multiple commenters have since refuted the Reddit users claims, which led the r/pcgaming moderators to remove the original post and flag it as misleading. "Like the tool, or dislike the tool, that's not an excuse to spread misinformation," read the explanation. According to Redditor Cymotrichous_'s analysis, EZ Optimizer appears to be free of "malicious work," however, obfuscation software and CodeZ1LLa's reasoning for not making the program open-source continued to raise red flags for many.
Some forum-goers believe CodeZ1LLa isn't even the tool's author. Users have discovered an allegedly similar (and older) Cyberpunk 2077 optimization tool on Nexus Mods. The running theory is CodeZ1LLa may have stolen the original program wholesale, injected malware into it, and passed it off as a gift to gamers. However, this has yet to be verified and multiple Redditor's have asserted that this does not actually appear to be the case.
Just to be safe, anyone who downloads CodeZ1LLa's program may want to delete it immediately, run a virus scan, and if worst comes to worst, restore their computer to an earlier point. A few extra frames are not worth risking your computer's safety.