Next-Gen Cyberpunk 2077 Release Is Likely Headed To PS5, When And What We Know
When Cyberpunk 2077 released in December of 2020, it came out for PCs and the previous, 8th-generation consoles: the Xbox One family and the PlayStation 4 series. Thanks to backward compatibility, you can play the console versions on the current, 9th-generation game consoles—decidedly the best way to play those versions—but native releases for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S|X consoles have not arrived yet despite CD Projekt Red's intentions to have them out by the end of last year.
A native release for the current-gen consoles could bring along with it numerous improvements. Beyond the usual updates and bug-fixes that a game update includes, a current-gen console version could also bring along ray-tracing (present in the PC version but absent in the console versions) and improved level-of-detail settings designed to take advantage of the fast SSD storage in the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.
If we believe @PlaystationSize on Twitter, PS5 gamers may not have long to wait for such an update. The Twitter account exists to post information about the download and install size of PS4 and PS5 games, but it has become known for posting other tidbits that it uncovers while digging in Sony's PSN databases.
The latest morsel of news that PlayStationSize has posted is that Cyberpunk 2077's native PS5 version should show up this quarter, and possibly as early as the middle of February. For those playing along at home, that's just two weeks away from today. Of course, there's no guarantee that this is the case, but it's promising news for those who haven't played the open-world sci-fi shooter yet. The leaker doesn't say anything about a possible Xbox release, naturally, but we'd expect the two launches to come side-by-side.
If you haven't tried the game, this update might be a good time to give it a shot. Since its extremely rocky launch, the game has received patch after patch and is a fairly solid experience at this point. While the degree to which you can customize the experience was grossly oversold before launch, fans of Deus Ex and similar "immersive sim" games can still find a ton to enjoy in Cyberpunk 2077. Keep your eyes on HotHardware; we'll let you know when/if the patch drops.
