Cyberpunk 2077’s delay was reportedly due to console optimisation issues

Cyberpunk 2077 promises gamers some of the best visuals of this console generation, following on from the graphical heights reached by The Witcher 3 to deliver something even greater. 

This push for enhanced graphics has always raised the question, are the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 powerful enough to handle this? Well, according to a Polish insider Borys Niespielak, they aren’t, and that’s why Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed until September 2020. 

In a recent podcast, which is embedded below, Niespielak stated that CD Projekt Red has been having issues optimising the game for Xbox One, finding the game’s performance to be “extremely unsatisfactory”. This lines up with CD Projekt Red’s reasoning for their delay, where the developer stated that the game was “complete and playable”, but that the game needed more polish. 

While Niespielak’s information should be taken with a grain of salt, it is not improbable for Microsoft’s original Xbox One to be facing performance issues in modern titles. According to a translation of the podcast below by Discord user Klawiaturodzierzca (via altchar), getting stable performance from the game on Microsoft’s original Xbox One (not Xbox One S) consoles has been challenging. 

CD Projekt Red hopes to offer gamers a next-generation experience on a current-generation console, and that goal has undoubtedly proved challenging for CD Projekt Red. The question now is what will Cyberpunk 2077 look like on today’s baseline consoles (Xbox One and PlayStation 4) and how much improvement will be offered by Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X systems.