Cyberpunk 2077: Release date, next-gen versions, and everything we know
Cyberpunk 2077's release is set for September 17
Formerly set for April 16, 2020, now we know we'll have to wait another five months for the Cyberpunk 2077 release date to arrive. The announcement of a delay in January pushed the game back to September 17. To be fair, we've been waiting since the project was first announced in 2012 to play Cyberpunk 2077, so a few more months probably won't kill us.
Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer is coming, eventually
Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer was one of those rumors that flitted in and out of the realm of probability, based on grant applications with the Polish government and a few developer comments. It finally slammed right into the realm of "confirmed but not scheduled" in early September, as CD Projekt Red says it plans to add "some multiplayer action" to the game after it puts out some free DLC and other single-player content. Later, it confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer was going to be a huge addition to the game - we probably shouldn't expect it to arrive until 2022 at the earliest.
Cyberpunk 2077 DLC will be Witcher-like
Before multiplayer comes around, you can expect Cyberpunk 2077's DLC model taking a similar path as The Witcher 3. That means there will be a good amount of free updates that add onto the game in the weeks and months following its arrival, and after that there will be bigger - likely paid - expansions that expand the world while moving V's story in new directions. At least, that's what it sounds like so far. CD Projekt Red could always change its mind on the details, even if we have a pretty good idea of the big picture.
Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay is first-person and very slick
We got a fresh infusion of Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay in August 2019, but you can still go back to the extensive preview CD Projekt Red first showed off at E3 2018. Cyberpunk 2077 uses a first-person perspective to put players firmly in the boots of a low-level gun-for-hire on the futuristic streets of Night City, and it also works well with the game's penchant for fast-paced gunplay. That said, 2077 is far from a straight first-person shooter: dialogue bleeds seamlessly into exploration, hacking and engineering skills can get you all kinds of places you're not supposed to be, and there are even a bunch of non-lethal (or just non-gun) options for fighting. Plus, there is still a bit of third-person during scripted cut scenes and driving around the city. Keep in mind that everything we've seen so far is subject to change, but it's all very promising.
Cyberpunk 2077's PC specs are reasonable (so far)
The E3 demo of Cyberpunk 2077 looked really good in cramped hallways and more open areas alike. You might worry about that kind of heavily choreographed demo also running on the equivalent of a NASA supercomputer, but it turns out the PC specs were pretty reasonable - at least as far as fairly high-end gaming builds go.
- CPU: Intel Core i7 8700K at 3.70GHz
- Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming
- RAM: 32GB of G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 RAM with a speed of 3,000MHz
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080Ti
- Storage: Samsung 960 Pro 512GB SSD
- PSU: Corsair SF600W power supply
We did some comparison shopping to put together a current PC build with those components and came to a price just north of $2,500. That's a lot, but keep in mind two things: 1) PC component prices drop over time as more powerful successors emerge, and 2) that was likely a very high-resolution, demanding, and most of all unoptizimed version of the game. There's a good chance that Cyberpunk 2077's minimum and even recommended PC specs will be lower than the E3 demo machine.
