Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has acknowledged the performance issues plaguing the game on base last-gen consoles, and has apologized for not showing the game running on the original PS4 and Xbox One prior to its release. “We should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” it said in a notice published on Twitter. The developer said it is hoping to fix the “most prominent problems” with a series of patches to be released over the coming months, but added that anyone who doesn’t want to wait will be able to return their copy of the game.
The statement follows numerous ports about how poorly the game runs on the older machines. Players have reported choppy frame rates, weird physics, texture pop-in, and screen tearing. Its performance has quickly become an online meme, Polygon reports, and videos and screenshots of the issues have been going viral on Twitter.
CD Projekt Red gave the PC version of the game to most reviewers, and seemingly did not provide console versions of the game, meaning these performance issues have only received widespread attention after the game’s release. In an investor call last month, CD Projekt Red joint-CEO Adam Kaciński even said the game runs “surprisingly well” on last-gen’s base hardware. We reviewed the game on PC, and although we found it was buggy, we didn’t see any of the more serious issues that players are reporting on the base PS4 and Xbox One. CD Projekt Red apologized for not showing the game on base last-gen consoles before its release “and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase.”
The developer promises that a host of fixes are coming to fix the performance problems, starting with another round of updates that’ll be released in the next seven days. In January and February, CD Projekt Red plans on releasing a pair of large patches that it says “should fix the most prominent problems gamers are facing on last-gen consoles.” However it cautions that “they won’t make the game on last-gen look like it’s running on a high-spec PC or next-gen console, but it will be closer to that experience than it is now.”
It says the PC version of the game will also be receiving regular updates and fixes. There’s also an upgraded next-gen console version of the game on the way, though there’s no word on when exactly that’s arriving.
Although fixes are on the way, the developer says that players are free to request refunds if they don’t want to wait. Digital purchases can be returned via Sony and Microsoft’s respective refund systems (IGN notes many buyers have already reported successfully claiming refunds via these methods, which isn’t usually possible in cases like this), and it says players should attempt to return boxed versions of the game to wherever they bought it. It has set up a dedicated email address for players to contact over the next week if they have trouble returning their copies.
