CD Projekt Red has confirmed it has no plans to patch Cyberpunk 2077 to support PS5 Pro. That’s a bit of a surprise if I’m being honest, since the first-person RPG has developed a habit of pushing technological boundaries on PC with its vast open world, detailed character models, and the use of best-in-class ray tracing that makes Night City feel alive like few games do.
Even when I reviewed the original game in its lacklustre state, it was still a visual marvel on PC with all the settings cranked up and ray tracing enabled, making it easy enough to look past the bugs and glitches to appreciate a cyberpunk world that felt alive. The initial console versions never achieved this level of graphical quality. Quite the opposite actually, since the base PS4 version was so busted, Sony even pulled it from digital sale for several months.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Console Versions Never Reached Their Full Potential
Things improved with the launch of Phantom Liberty last year, which saw Cyberpunk 2077 receive support for PS5 and Xbox Series X. It could now push a higher resolution image in greater visual clarity than ever before, but even that fell short of the PC version working at full throttle. I’m expecting loads here, but with the benchmark CD Projekt Red established after updating The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for modern consoles, part of me hoped to see the same here. It looked, ran, and felt better than ever, while also representing a dedication to CDPR’s back catalog that few developers have. So why not do the same for Cyberpunk?
Well, the truth is that nobody at CD Projekt Red is working on the game anymore. After a handful of quality-of-life updates following the launch of Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 was in a pretty good place. It played well, looked nice, and was content complete in both story and mechanics, so it made sense to close the book. Now, the studio is hard at work on The Witcher 4 and other titles, with the former entering a phase of production where all hands are needed in order to bring it to life.
This doesn’t make the lack of plans for PS5 Pro any less of a bummer, especially after Assassin’s Creed Syndicate dropped an update out of the blue and much older games from Sony have also received patches.
But With A PS5 Pro Patch, It Might Stand A Chance
For the goodwill of its community and the longevity of Cyberpunk 2077, a dedicated PS5 Pro patch would be more than worthwhile. Some never forgave the game for its litany of launch issues, believing that CDPR wasn’t deserving of the redemption arc it got years after the original release. A freshly minted patch isn’t likely to get those critics to engage, and I don’t blame them, but it would go a long way in showcasing CDPR’s commitment to a game it once probably wanted to leave behind. But it didn’t, so why not end that journey with a technological flourish instead of dousing the hopes of fans who are still playing this game?
I’m talking about people like me, who are deep into a second playthrough but had to turn away due to a few other big releases and to emotionally recover from the final moments of Phantom Liberty. I am yet to see the new ending either, and whenever I get that chance, I’d love to do so on a console I paid hundreds of dollars for at the highest fidelity possible.
What bums me out the most is we know how stunning Cyberpunk 2077 can look when the visuals are dialed up to 11, with lightning, character models, and a sense of place and scale that few games match. Obviously, the PS5 Pro still isn’t going to rival the most powerful PC on the market, but even if it can go half the distance, that will be enough for a console player like me.
Developed by CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action role-playing game based on the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG. You must choose your path through life in the lawless Night City, while contending with the memories of Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves).