Has there ever been a redemptive arc as significant in gaming as Cyberpunk 2077’s rise from the ashes? It’s botched 2020 launch is well documented, but also well documented is the feverish work ethic CD Projekt Red have undertaken in the years since to bring their dystopian vision up to the standard they originally promised. For many players, good will has been restored. For others, CD Projekt Red are never seeing a penny of their hard-earned cash. However, whatever side of the fence you’re on you’ll likely be surprised by the Polish developer’s confirmation that they have zero plans to patch Cyberpunk 2077 to support PS5 Pro.
There are credible explanations behind this stance which we’ll get onto in a moment, but even the most supportive of Cyberpunk 2077’s fandom might feel the game’s lifecycle is ending on a damp squib. After all, this game – in its present-day state – is renowned for pushing technological boundaries, especially on PC. Night City is amongst the most hyper-meticulous, vibrant, architecturally plausible environments ever crafted in gaming; character designs, facial animations, outfits, they’re all super detailed; ray tracing is up there with the best of any game currently available. Consoles lag behind the most powerful PCs, of course, so whilst its undeniable how impressive the game looks and performs on Xbox Series X and PS5 there still feels a slight sense of underachievement in what’s truly possible for the game on console. We’ve already seen some of the incredible improvements other games have displayed following their release to Sony’s mid-generation refresh. Surely Cyberpunk 2077 needs to join the party. Is its redemptive arc truly complete if it doesn’t?
To be fair to CD Projekt Red, they have a lot on their plate. The Witcher 4 is currently in the works (the first in a new Witcher trilogy too, it must be said), and a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 – codename Project Orion – is in its early stages, with CD Projekt Red pledging to double the number of developers working on it in 2025. There’s also a new multiplayer entry in The Witcher series plus a brand-new unannounced IP for them to move past pre-production. Perhaps, from their point of view, their work on Cyberpunk 2077 is finally done and dusted. Maybe they’re burned out, maybe they want to shift their focus on something else. It also seems perhaps, given the other projects they have in the works, they simply don’t have the manpower.
There is also the free update they’ve already supplied to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S players in the form of the Phantom Liberty coinciding update 2.0. Included in this overhaul was a refinement of the game’s skill trees, a newly aggressive police force, vehicular combat, AI enhanced gunplay, additional perks to netrunning, amendments to cyberware and how its implemented in-game, more distinct weapon feel, changes to balance and economy, scaled loot, new radio stations, improved UI, more secrets, performance and stability fixes… the list unbelievably goes on. The fact all these improvements were offered free of charge is commendable, but, revisiting the point on good will we mentioned earlier there’re those who believe all these amendments should have been present in the game’s original release. Should CD Projekt Red be patted on the back for providing us what we should have had all along, free of charge or not?
It’s hard not to be cynical. On the one hand, giving us what was always promised in a free update was the very least they could do. However, on the other, the team evidently put a lot of work and passion into getting Cyberpunk 2077 up to snuff, and it likely was a boardroom decision to release the game in its unplayable state to begin with anyway. Releasing unfinished games to fix later down the line is unfortunately all-too commonplace in the industry, but it backfired massively on CD Projekt Red’s shareholders and the studio’s share price tanked. Regardless of what’s happened in the past, we speak about the fallout following Cyberpunk 2077’s 2020 launch and subsequent free update in this way to demonstrate that maybe CD Projekt Red owe us a PS5 Pro patch (and perhaps those shareholders might benefit from it too). A petulant point of view for sure, but the PS5 Pro is expensive, and we want to play the most impressive games on the best hardware.
And, if we’re going down the petulant route, should CD Projekt Red backtrack on their refusal to produce a PS5 Pro patch and indeed give the people what they want then maybe they could throw a couple of mods into the patch too akin to their next-gen boost to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Like we’d expect with a PS5 Pro patch, The Witcher 3’s next-gen update provided enhanced visuals, new content, improved mechanics, smoother performance, and the implementation of several mods into the base game. And, it must be said, in keeping with CD Projekt Red’s generosity it was free.
The mods in question improve fast travel, crafting, the appearance and functionality of the world map, and numerous other mechanics, all being credited to the modders who created them, which is a nice touch. Cyberpunk 2077 has a raft of useful mods available which, if we’re dreaming, would be fantastic to be included in a PS5 Pro patch. DJ_Kovrik’s Revised Backpack mod is an inventory overhaul you’ll wonder how you managed without, New Level Cap allows you to eventually have all skills by raising the level cap to 80, or the Unlock Global Illumination mod which provides a heck of a lot more graphical options beyond lighting tweaks, are just a trio of mods we can realistically see CD Projekt Red implementing into a PS5 Pro patch.
Even without a PS5 Pro patch Cyberpunk 2077, like numerous other games, has benefited from the Pro’s superior hardware with numerous noticeable differences to its performance on the base PS5. Whilst we’ve already gushed over Night City’s visual pizazz there are undeniably moments when framerates can become a little stuttered, especially when the streets are a tad overcrowded. Reports are that drops are far less noticeable on the Pro, if still there at all. Busy, demanding areas are far smoother places to experience on PS5 Pro than base PS5. Take on a fleet of NCPD’s finest and you’ll notice only a handful of drops, depending on area. From this point of view, is there much need for Cyberpunk 2077 to get a dedicated PS5 Pro patch?
If they’re going to do it, they’re going to need to make it worthwhile, like with the inclusion of mods for example. And seeing as they aren’t doing it, this brings us full circle back to a point already made. CD Projekt Red likely don’t have the manpower to dedicate to a worthwhile PS5 Pro patch given the immense challenges that lay in front of them with the projects they already have in the pipeline. It might seem like they’re making the wrong choice in not producing a PS5 Pro patch but hopefully this decision will prove the right one once we start getting some more trickles of information regarding scale of The Witcher 4 and, indeed, Cyberpunk 2077’s as yet untitled sequel.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.