Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 and Project Scarlett ‘doable’ but not next year

Cyberpunk 2077 screenshot (pic: CD Projekt) — Cyberpunk 2077 – not going next gen next year year (pic: CD Projekt)

The company discussed their plans in a call to investors, in Polish, but website VGC has been able to translate what was said – which gets very interesting on the subject of next gen versions.

‘Of course we do have insight into what’s around the corner, into what’s happening with PlayStation and Xbox, and we are watching it closely, and one may probably safely assume that at some point we may do something with next-gen, however we cannot really be very specific what that may be, when exactly that may be’, said exec Michał Nowakowski.

‘I will only safely assume that it’s definitely not going to be around the launch timeframe of these consoles, so I think that’s pretty much it.’

That’s actually fairly surprising, and disappointing, as while next gen versions of Cyberpunk 2077 have only ever been hinted at many have assumed they were being lined up as launch titles for the PlayStation 5 and/or next gen Xbox, or at least very soon after.

That doesn’t seem to be the case though, with CD Projekt president Adam Kiciński adding only that: ‘Our games were always kind of ahead of technology; they were always played best on strong PCs, so in many areas we are kind of ready or almost ready for stronger specs – so, from a technical perspective this seems to be doable.’

The other interesting detail to come from the call concerned the game’s multiplayer, which won’t be ready when the game launches but is expected sometime after.

‘As far as the monetisation of multiplayer for Cyberpunk is concerned, we believe right now it’s definitely too early to share any details on that or give guidance; the project is in a relatively early stage,’ said Kiciński.

‘We keep experimenting – that’s our first multiplayer game. We check various options and possibilities, and it’s definitely not the time to point you to a specific direction on that. Of course, you can expect that we won’t change our general policy towards ‘deals with gamers’ so I expect wise monetization and – always – value for money’.

That’s a reference to CD Projekt’s dislike for microtransactions and the other trappings of modern gaming, which they ignored entirely with The Witcher 3’s free DLC extras and larger, paid-for story expansions.

Given that, it’s going to be interesting to see how they manage to monetise Cyberpunk 2077’s multiplayer, especially as card game Gwent does have loot boxes.