CD Projekt Red Refutes Rumors Regarding Cyberpunk 2077 Delays: “No Hidden Agendas, Just Working on Making the Game Better”

Spencer Baculi |

Jan 30, 2020

CD Projekt Red has denied a widely circulated internet rumor regarding the reason for the recently announced delay of Cyberpunk 2077, stating that the alleged information “might make for a good rumor, but [doesn’t] hold a lot of truth.”

On January 16^th, CD Projekt Red announced that the team would unfortunately not be able to make the game’s original April 16^th, 2020, release date, saying that while “the game is complete and playable,” the developers felt that they required “more time to finish playtesting, fixing and polishing” before releasing the game to the public:

We have important news regarding Cyberpunk 2077’s release date we’d like to share with you today. pic.twitter.com/aWdtR0grYV

— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) January 16, 2020

Their statement reads:

“We have important news regarding Cyberpunk 2077’s release date we’d like to share with you today. Cyberpunk 2077 won’t make the April release window and we’re moving the launch date to September 17, 2020.

We are currently at a stage where the game is complete and playable, but there’s still work to be done. Night City is massive—full of stories, content and places to visit, but due to the sheer scale and complexity of it all, 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.

Expect more regular updates on progress as we get closer to the new release date. We’re really looking forward to seeing you in Night City, thank you for your ongoing support.”

As no specific issue was cited by CD Projekt Red for the delay, fans quickly began to speculate on the many potential reasons for the decision. One particular pervasive rumor, as reported on by video game news site Push Square, claimed that “CD Projekt Red was running into real trouble when it came to getting Cyberpunk 2077 to perform on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — the latter especially.”

In response to Push Square’s report, God of War series writer Cory Barlog published a short Twitter thread arguing against the idea that the game was delayed because of console-specific issues, stating that “EVERY game runs badly until you optimize for the hardware in the final push before gold.”

EVERY game runs badly until you optimize for the hardware in the final push before gold.❤️ https://t.co/5uTQ14EfE5

— Cory Barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

So, I feel like I need to expand upon this because many may not have the most accurate picture of the game making process.

In truth, we often probably do NOT want to share this because, for some reason, we believe people will jump to apocalyptic conclusions and get angry.

— Cory Barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

I can’t say I speak for the industry, so fellow devs chime in to disagree or correct if you feel your experience is different, but I feel this to be true for *most* games.

GAMES ARE VERY UGLY, FOR A LONG TIME, UNTIL THEY ARE NOT.

Traditionally, that is right near the end.

— Cory Barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

This is due to the absolutely fucking bananas level of complexity and moving pieces required to make really any game today.

We are, more often than not, going on passion and belief that the vision of this buggy + duct taped together ‘thing’ is going to come together in the end.

— Cory Barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

To me there is NOTHING shameful or nefarious about the game not running well in development.

We ALL obviously want to release the smoothest/most bug free experience humanly possible.

Sometimes we (mostly) succeed. Sometimes we don’t.

But it is NEVER because we did not try.❤️

— Cory Barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) January 22, 2020

Later, on the CD Projekt Red forums, Quest Design Coordinator Philipp Weber stated that Barlog “hit the nail on the head”, explaining that “lots of things are unoptimized, because they’re all in flux, changing, and still not finished”:

“Cory Barlog hit the nail on the head. Of course we’re optimizing for the XBox One, and for the Playstation, and for the PC, because that’s what you do in the last stretches of game development. While the game is made, lots of things are unoptimized, because they’re all in flux, changing, and still not finished.”

Weber concluded by assuring fans that there were “no hidden agendas” behind the game’s delay and that the team was “working on making the game better.”

“So simple answers like “They delayed the game because of X” might make for a good rumor, but don’t hold a lot of truth. There’s always many reasons. Among them, and I can speak for myself, simply fixing bugs, so the game is as polished as possible. No hidden agendas, just working on making the game better.”