Cyberpunk 2077 could be the “first of many” as developers could start improving performance by dropping old-gen consoles

A few days ago, Cyberpunk 2077 became the topic of discussion following CD Projekt Red’s announcement. While a brand new expansion has been announced for 2023, old-gen console users won’t be able to take advantage of it. CD Projekt Red has decided that after the release of the existing 1.6 patch, the game will no longer be actively supported on older consoles.

The developers didn’t explicitly go into the exact reasons behind their decision, but speculation leaned toward performance. Most fans feel the decision is the right one if CD Projekt Red wants the game to live up to its potential. Some feel that the game is not made for the hardware of older generation consoles.

Important note for Cyberpunk 2077 fans: Patch 1.6 will be the last one supported by the old generation of consoles (Phantom Liberty is also only available for PC, XSX/S and PS5).

Coming to the future
– a complete overhaul of the police system
– Revamped vehicle-to-vehicle combat

Important note for Cyberpunk 2077 fans: Patch 1.6 will be the last one supported by the old generation of consoles (Phantom Liberty is also only available for PC, XSX/S and PS5). Vehicle-to-vehicle combat https://t.co/EtlSuEjeNS

What makes the decision even more interesting is that Cyberpunk 2077 will still be available on older generation consoles. It will likely continue to receive minor updates, but CD Projekt Red’s focus is crystal clear.

You may not be alone as other developers will likely do something similar with you with their games. Although the reasons may vary, it is not very difficult to understand why such decisions might be made.

Cyberpunk 2077 and its enhancement could signal developers to stay away from older generation consoles going forward

Despite recent improvements, Cyberpunk 2077 was still a classic tale of unfulfilled potential. When the first trailer appeared, it created an incredible hype. CD Projekt Red delivered The Witcher saga and fan expectations were very high.

Despite a series of delays, fans were willing to wait as they wanted a perfect game, not a rushed one. Despite the delays, the release was disappointing, missing several promised elements. It was full of terrible bugs, glitches and more.

Fast forward since then, and players now have a much more refined version of the game. The next-gen upgrade has played a key role in Cyberpunk 2077’s much-needed overhaul. This may have been the main reason why CD Projekt Red made the decision.

The Xbox Series XLS and the PlayStation 5 were released in late 2020 and will celebrate their second anniversary in a few months. Both brands are working on releasing updated versions to improve their capabilities even further. In some ways, their capabilities are the closest to the powerful gaming PCs available on the market.

If CD Projekt Red needs to continue supporting older generation consoles, it needs to find a compromise across all of its products. You either have to publish two separate versions of the same content or create something below its potential to make it run smoothly on all devices.

As the current generation consoles become more widely available, developers will start thinking more about them and how to optimize their games accordingly. First off, making games isn’t a cheap activity, and supporting a platform that’s aging makes even less sense.

Earlier this year, Gotham Knights announced that it would only be released on current-gen consoles. This led to resentment and anger in the community as several players felt robbed. However, the developers have shown why they chose to make the compromise, even if it meant upsetting their fan base.

While Halo Infinite recently announced plans to scrap split-screen co-op, several players blamed old-gen consoles for it. They believe 343 Industries’ hands are tied as they want to support both generations of consoles. This has been said about Cyberpunk 2077 in the past, and it finally seems CD Projekt Red has been listening.

Whether Cyberpunk 2077 will be the promised game will be a matter of time. Even after moving to the current generation, CD Projekt Red needs to avoid the mistakes they made in the past. However, Cyberpunk 2077 could be the moment of a massive shift in the industry as more developers and publishers consider the benefits of moving away from the older Xbox and PlayStation consoles.