The recently released gameplay demo for Cyberpunk 2077 might’ve driven hype for the game way up, but we’ve all probably got a very long wait before the game actually hits store shelves. We’re talking Game of Thrones Season 8 long, or perhaps even Rick and Morty Season 4 long. There’s no end in sight.
CD Projekt Red’s 48-minute Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo released on August 28 might look polished and close to something like a final product — despite the voiceover host’s repeated note about this being a “work in progress” — but rest assured that the game’s release date is still very far off.
Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date: Why It Might Be 2020
Mike Pondsmith, creator of the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020 the new video game is based on, told YouTuber YongYea at E3 2018, “You guys can wait a few more years.” If he said this in June 2018, then we’re probably talking about 2020 at the earliest for a release date. But he’s also probably not that involved in the actual production of the game.
Pre-Production Is Over, and a Start-to-Finish Version of Cyberpunk 2077 is Playable
At Gamescom 2018 in late August, the game’s producer Richard Borzymowski told Engadget that the core game was playable from start to finish, meaning that despite being in the early alpha stage of game development, CD Projekt Red is already hitting major milestones. There’s still a lot of work to be done before Cyberpunk 2077 goes gold, but this is a good indication of progress.
Long-Term Goals Estimate a June 2019 Release
Many sites speculate that based on the terms of funding CD Projekt Red received from the Polish government, it’s reasonable to assume the game might be released sometime in 2019. The grant’s terms supposedly have an end date of June 2019, which either offers an indicator of when the game’s system development might end or it hints at a legitimate release date.
One formal proposal regarding a “seamless multiplayer” feature sets an estimated end date for the “project” as June 29, 2019. However, considering the January 1, 2017 start date on it, this proposal could just technically cover precisely a year and a half. Does the terms of this “project” indicate a release date, or is this just the behind-the-scenes development of this specific system? The far more likely explanation is that these dates represent a kind of contractual legalese.
More Realistic Truth Estimates a Late 2019 Release Date for Cyberpunk 2077
According to Trusted Reviews, CD Projekt Red said at E3 2018 that the game will release in 2019 at the earliest, but that it “refuses to let itself be hurried.”
What Systems is Cyberpunk 2077 Releasing On?
Currently, CD Projekt Red claims Cyberpunk 2077 is aiming for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. But if development is continually delayed, it’s possible that this game might also find a home on next gen consoles. The Xbox Scarlett is rumored for release in 2020, and some speculate that Sony’s PlayStation 5 could come out as early as 2019.
Wouldn’t it be a waste for such a high-tech game to be the final release on two dying consoles? If that’s the case, then CD Projekt Red might have to eventually plan to release on new and old platforms.
Cyberpunk 2077 Estimated Cost
These days, just about every video game release for $59.99, so we can probably expect the same from Cyberpunk 2077 unless there’s some kind of drastic shift in the gaming industry.
All things considered, when can we reasonably expect Cyberpunk 2077 to be release? Hopefully before the actual dystopia of real-world 2077 happens, but if we had to wager a guess, we’d say either late 2019 or early 2020 as the final release date.
