‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Finally Goes Next-Gen With A Huge Patch To Improve The Game

Cyberpunk 2077 is the biggest at launch failure we’ve seen from a game in recent memory. The game that received all the hype in the world launched in a state that was so poor that it had to be removed from the PlayStation Store because buyers were demanding refunds. The glitches were hysterical, but also frustrating, and it eventually led to the game having to be fixed. It took half a year to reach a state that the company said was “satisfying” and it was eventually returned to the PlayStation store.

Since the devs over at CD Projekt Red had to spend so much time fixing the game, they also had to delay next-gen versions of the game for PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S. Also, any improvements to the game were about helping it reach a baseline of quality instead of making active improvements to the overall experience. They were developing from behind and it made new progress on the game feel slow, but progress was indeed happening behind the scenes. On Tuesday, CD Projekt Red was finally ready to show how far they’d come, as the that the next-gen versions of Cyberpunk finally launched and with it came some huge updates.

Let’s get the big stuff out of the way first. While Cyberpunk has always been playable on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, the versions that everyone was playing were the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions that newer consoles can play through backwards compatibility. Now, anyone with a PS5 or Series X/S can play a version that is exclusive to their console that can’t be played on previous generation hardware. This means the games are better optimized for those consoles and can make better use of that hardware.

Alongside this launch came a huge patch that is going to make some massive updates to the game including NPC and AI enemy behavior. Via a blog of the patch notes on Cyberpunk.net.

• Multiple fixes and improvements to NPC melee and ranged combat AI and reactions, including taking cover, positioning, reloading, equipping weapons, dodging, blocking and many others.
• Multiple improvements to dismemberment triggers, hit reactions and death animations, adding greater impact to ranged and melee combat.
• Enemies are now much better at blocking and evading (Kerenzikov) attacks. The heavier the weapon, the easier it is to hit. The opposite is true for evading.
• Further diversification of melee and ranged combat behaviors for different factions: reckless, aggressive, balanced, defensive and cautious.
• Followers now contribute more in combat but can be defeated and temporarily disabled if they receive enough punishment.
• Numerous fixes and balance changes to netrunner combat.

That blog has a full list of all the Patch Notes for anyone who wants to read them and get into all the technical improvements that have been made in this latest patch.

While this is all great news for anyone who has been waiting for the ideal experience to play Cyberpunk, it might not be enough to bring back everyone who saw the disaster state it released in. As a result, there is a way for players to experience the game and see if they like it before buying it as long as they have an Xbox Series S/X.

If there was ever a time to finally see what Cyberpunk is about this is probably the time to do it. It’s been over a year since the game has released, but it looks like Cyberpunk finally has the chance to meet the hype it came into the world with.