An investor call between CD Projekt executives and investors has revealed some more information about the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077. In the call, execs Adam Kiciński and Michał Nowakowski go into a little more detail about why the game was delayed, as well as talking about expansions and whether they're worried about launching close to next-gen season.
What does this investor call reveal about Cyberpunk 2077's delay?
Regarding Cyberpunk 2077's recent delay, Kiciński tells an investor that the team is putting the "finishing touches" on the game, which involves "tweaking small things to make them as perfect as possible". He goes on to say that he and the team believe November 19th will be the final date and that no more delays are likely after this one. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic "doesn't help" in the final phase of development, but it's not the main reason the game was delayed, according to Kiciński.
Later in the call, an investor asks Kiciński and Nowakowski why there should be any more confidence surrounding this new November date than there was for the September one. The investor points out that in January, CD Projekt said that Cyberpunk 2077 was "pretty much finished and had been for several months", and that September seemed like longer than the team needed. In response, Kiciński said "the situation is very different" now than it was back then. Previously, CD Projekt could only show the game to ratings agencies, but not to journalists because of the prevalence of bugs. Now, according to Kiciński and Nowakowski, the "visibility" of the work the team is doing on the game is much greater.
What's the story with Cyberpunk 2077's expansions?
There's an interesting exchange in the investor call between the two execs and a participant. In the call, the participant mentions the "two DLCs" for Cyberpunk 2077 that are planned. Nowakowski says that CDPR hasn't "specifically mentioned the number of expansions" and that the participant has "assumed" the situation will be the same for 2077 as it was for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Later in the call, Nowakowski says the investors should "not assume anything" until the studio has actually announced the number of expansions. This could point to Cyberpunk 2077 getting more than two expansion packs. According to another participant in the call, CDPR has said The Witcher 3 could have had more expansions given the appetite for the game, so Cyberpunk 2077 could be the team's chance to rectify that.
How is CD Projekt approaching next-gen with Cyberpunk 2077?
The call also sheds some light on how CD Projekt intends to approach next-gen. Kiciński and Nowakowski say that the next-gen release of Cyberpunk 2077 is still on track for next year and that the game will look better if played on PS5 or Xbox Series X on day one. CDPR also says it's "not worried" about launching close to next-gen, and that there's likely to be renewed interest in video games as a result of the next-gen consoles launching that Cyberpunk 2077 can capitalize on. CDPR's game will be one of the biggest gaming releases in that time period, so Kiciński and Nowakowski say that will help them to stand out.
If you want to check out the full investor call between CDPR and their participants, you can do so right here. Cyberpunk 2077 will launch for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 19th.
