Following the recent announcement that Cyberpunk 2077‘s release date will now be in November rather than September, CD Projekt Red has confirmed that the game will be fully backwards compatible. That is to say that any copy of the game will be playable on both current-gen and next-gen consoles. Furthermore, they have announced that a next-gen upgrade to the game will be completely free.
Cyberpunk 2077 and the Next-Gen Console Launch
“We are happy to confirm that Cyberpunk 2077 will be backwards compatible with both next-gen consoles,” read a recent statement by CD Projekt Red; “Your PS4 copy of the game will work on PS5 on launch day. Anyone who buys the game on Xbox One will be able to play their copy on Xbox Series X when the console launches too.”
Previously, there had been concern among gamers that the game’s September release date would leave many forced to choose between immediate access to the current-gen version of the game or waiting a few months to get it on the new consoles. CD Projekt Red had already announced that the game would be offered on Xbox via a scheme which will give players free access to a next-gen copy of the game. However, the release date is now much closer to those of the upcoming consoles. That combined with this new announcement should assuage the concerns of many gamers.
Cyberpunk 2077 wasn’t designed originally for next-gen consoles. As such, the game won’t actually take full advantage of the new consoles’ hardware at launch. Indeed, CD Projekt Red had previously said that they were focusing on current-gen consoles, and that they might consider a next-gen re-launch of the game sometime in early 2021. Now, however, that will be taking place via an update which will be available for free. “A later upgrade to Cyberpunk 2077, taking full advantage of the next-gen hardware,” explains CD Projekt Red; “will be available for free.”
The studio has also confirmed that this backwards compatibility offer applies to both physical and digital editions of the game. As such, if you buy a physical game disc, it will be compatible with both the old and new consoles. If you download it online, you’ll be able to do so freely on your other console too.