Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed until September 17, 2020 making this the latest in a spate of high-profile game delays within months of release.
The news was posted on CD PROJEKT RED's Twitter account earlier today, with co-founder Marcin Iwiński and head of studio Adam Badowski citing the need for more 'playtesting, fixing and polishing' than its original April 16 window would have allowed. CD PROJEKT RED had previously remained tight-lipped about release windows due to fears they wouldn't be able to commit to them this far out from release.
We have important news regarding Cyberpunk 2077’s release date we’d like to share with you today. pic.twitter.com/aWdtR0grYV
— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) January 16, 2020
Cyberpunk now joins a handful of highly-anticipated releases that have been delayed in the past months, with Final Fantasy 7 Remake being moved this week from its March 3 release date closer to Cyberpunk's original April slot. Also this week was Marvel's Avengers, slipping from May to September.
Last year saw other tentpole titles such as DOOM Eternal slide into next decade, now expected on March 20, and The Last of Us Part 2 which was bumped from February into May. On top of that, Ubisoft sweeped its entire 2020 release schedule back an undisclosed number of months after a crushing reception for Ghost Recon Breakpoint tanked their sales targets.
It's unknown why such a large number of studios are opting to keep their release schedules fluid recently, though the impending release of information about the next generation of consoles could be playing havoc with production schedules. On the bright side, shifting deadlines back should help to avoid developers going through intense burn periods known as 'crunch' which can be unhealthy for the industry.
Of course, this move could also mean that devs have been in crunch for months already and still aren't going to make deadline so now, instead, they get another few months of crunch. Here's hoping some devs are resting easier tonight.
How do you feel about Cyberpunk 2077 being pushed back? And how about every single other game you were looking forward to?
