Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a Game of the Year edition

(Image credit: CD Projekt)

Following the release of its Phantom Liberty expansion and another patch, troubled open-world RPG Cyberpunk 2077 will be rereleased in a Game of the Year Edition, CD Projekt CEO Adam Kiciński told investors during a recent call. As reported by Polish news site Stockwatch, and spotted by Insider Gaming, Cyberpunk 2077 GOTY Edition is scheduled for a 2023 release.

"It's a natural order of things," Kiciński said, per Google Translate. "It was the same with The Witcher 3, which after both expansions was finally released as a Game of the Year Edition and has been operating on the market ever since. The same can be expected in this case. It's quite obvious."

While calling a rerelease a "Game of the Year" edition made sense when Half-Life was being repackaged with some extras and a sticker on the front of the box noting it had been awarded game of the year by "over 40 publications", these days it's just a fancy name for a deluxe rerelease. Given that Dead Island, Far Cry 6, and both of the mediocre Oblivion-likes in the Two Worlds series received GOTY Editions, it's been a while since the name meant much.

Cyberpunk 2077 has, however, been generously reappraised by many following its disastrous launch. Thanks to lowered expectations and a discounted price, its Steam user rating climbed upwards. More recently the 1.6 update and a boost in interest thanks to the well-received Netflix anime series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has seen its sales soar, pushing CD Projekt to the best third-quarter the company has ever had.

"It is much easier to build further positive messages on positive sentiment," Kiciński told shareholders.

Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion will apparently be a "spy-thriller" set in a new district of Night City, with a new cast of characters—although Johnny Silverhand will return, as Keanu Reeves confirmed during a livestream. It'll also feature Sasha Grey as a radio DJ. Following that, Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a full sequel, though we suspect CD Projekt will be taking their time on that one.

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Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.