The wait is finally over. Cyberpunk 2077 has finally released after nearly eight years of anticipation on basically every current platform. The long road to release has been filled with delays, controversies and a drip-feed of hype-fueled trailers that made Cyberpunk 2077 the most anticipated video game in recent memory.
Unfortunately, the release of Cyberpunk 2077 hasn't gone over as smoothly as many had hoped for. Extensive bugs and glitches have been reported on all platforms, even with the day one patch enabled, but the game is still playable for everyone. Some players, though, have pointed out that the base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game might stretch the definition of "playable" per modern standards.
Worry for the last generation versions of Cyberpunk 2077 started after rumors surfaced that CD Projekt Red was having difficulty getting the game to run on those consoles and reportedly crunched their development staff during these delay periods. While people were still hopeful, the nail in the coffin for the last-gen experience was laid out when it was noted that the console versions of Cyberpunk 2077 weren't given out for review. Fears became a reality when gamers were finally able to play Cyberpunk 2077 and saw that the last-gen consoles could barely handle the game, posing the question if either the game should've been delayed again or if these versions of the game should've even released at all.
Leaked footage from the PlayStation 4 version of the game surfaced before the review cycle began, showing that Cyberpunk could barely keep a steady thirty frames per second, and the visuals looked washed out and jagged. Many still held out hope that the day one patch could fix the nagging issues, but as recent games like Marvel's Avengers have proved, the day one patch isn't the saving grace many hoped it would be. The game may run more stable than what was initially anticipated with the leaked footage, but it's still far from ideal. Texture pop-in is everywhere, character models don't load properly, framerates dip to absurd lows and glitches are still causing many other issues.
With the eight different platforms Cyberpunk 2077 has been developed for, there's room for understanding that there would be some technical issues on launch, yet the performance of the last-gen versions is inexcusable. Since the release of the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and the new GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD, trying to get a hold of a next-gen experience has been troublesome for gamers across the world. Scalpers have been running wild from snagging up systems and flipping them for absurd prices, not to mention trucks carrying consoles have been robbed, too. With many gamers still stuck on previous generation machines, it stings that those versions of the game are nothing short of a mess when they were promised a stable experience.
It begs the question if the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game should've released to begin with. While the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X have expectedly handled Cyberpunk better than the initial launch systems, the ideal experience is obviously on PC and, surprisingly, Google Stadia. Even then, The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have shown that Cyberpunk runs well enough, though they are reportedly still having issues hitting the target 60 frames per second that so many gamers desire.
Even with optimization issues running wild for the game, many are still hoping Cyberpunk 2077 will be patched down the road to better accommodate players stuck on last generation machines. Even with patches possibly fixing the experience, it still feels shady that CD Projekt Red refused to release any console version for review since the launch day experience has been filled with problems for players everywhere. Not even the PC version is safe from issues, either; though GPU driver updates can reportedly resolve several issues, even players on high-end machines are encountering major bugs and frame rate problems.
Currently, Cyberpunk 2077 lands at a "mostly positive" rating on Steam by the community, which isn't exactly a great light to cast on a newly released AAA game, especially for a studio as renowned as CD Projekt Red. If you've been sitting on the fence on if you should buy Cyberpunk 2077 just yet, it might be best to wait and see where future updates will take the game, hopefully ironing out the many issues it has at the moment. Caution is especially warned for players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, to the point that it might just be better to wait for when the newest consoles are readily available; by then, Cyberpunk 2077 might have even received enough updates to be considered stable.