Cyberpunk 2077 E3 2019 Gameplay Demo Won’t Be Released Online

CD Projekt RED surprised everyone when it revealed that Cyberpunk 2077 would feature Keanu Reeves, who’s playing a “legendary rockerboy” named Johnny Silverhand. Furthermore, we have a release date – April 16th, 2020. Unfortunately, the gameplay demo at E3 2019 may not be streamed online, and this was discovered through some rather curious means.

In the Collector’s Edition unboxing trailer released by CDPR, an SSH server code was shown. Fans actually accessed it (as per CD Projekt RED forum user IndifferentEmpathy) and found a message from the developer which stated the following: “Finally, after months of preparation, we can share with you two big things we have been hard at work on — CP2077’s cinematic story trailer and a brand new gameplay demo! Yes, yes, we know — for now, the demo is only available to the lucky ones who managed to get tickets to E3 and the rest of you will have to wait until Gamescom or the public dev Q&A unveiling stream at PAX in August.

“Yeah, we can already feel the bashing you’re gonna give us online. ‘Why are you not treating us fair’, ‘why is the gameplay not being released right away?’. The reason is we want to make the most out of the months of work we put into the demo and first showcase gameplay live at E3 and Gamescom. Releasing gameplay right away would make the Gamescom presentations pointless and would significantly limit our chance to build hype.”

Why does the developer need to build more hype? Well, the reasoning is fairly simple. “To get more gamers interested in CP2077 and, hopefully, convince them to give it a go. We are putting our hearts and souls into making CP2077 a great game and we would like as many gamers as possible to find out about it and experience its amazing story. Also, hype can turn into sales (after all, we are not a charity), and good sales allow us to grow, take creative risks and deliver new, great games for you to enjoy.”

Say what you will, but it’s perfectly understandable. Besides, Cyberpunk 2077 is still 10 months away from release, so there will be plenty of time to see new gameplay footage. The open world RPG is coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC. You can check out the contents of the Collector’s Edition in the trailer below.