Cyberpunk 2077 is returning to the PlayStation Store next week
Sony warned that there are still "performance issues" on the PlayStation 4.
The PC release of Cyberpunk 2077 was rough, but not disastrous. On consoles, though, it's a different story. Metacritic tells the tale: The PC version has an aggregate rating of 86, compared to 57 on the PlayStation 4 and 61 on the Xbox One. The situation was bad enough that Sony actually banished the game from the PlayStation Store a week after it launched, and offered full refunds to anyone who had purchased it there.
It's been something of an albatross around CD Projekt's neck ever since. The studio has been improving the state of the game with fixes and patches, and in April joint CEO Adam Kiciński committed to making it something "that we can be proud of," but there was still no sign that Sony was prepared to relent and let Cyberpunk 2077 back on its storefront.
That has now changed. Earlier today, six months after its removal, IGN noticed that Cyberpunk 2077 was once again listed on the PlayStation Store—only for wishlisting, though, not for purchase—and now CD Projekt has confirmed that it will return in full next week.
"The Management Board of CD Projekt S.A. with a registered office in Warsaw hereby publicly discloses the decision by Sony Interactive Entertainment to reinstate the availability of the digital edition of Cyberpunk 2077 on PlayStation Store, effective on 21 June 2021," the company said in a regulatory announcement.
It's a very dry, all-business announcement, but it's a big deal for CD Projekt. In its most recent quarterly report, the company made no bones about the importance of getting back to the PlayStation Store, saying that the financial results of the CD Projekt Red division "will significantly depend on the sales volume of games set in the Cyberpunk and The Witcher universes," and in turn that sales of Cyberpunk 2077 will be affected primarily by two factors: The continued release of updates and free DLC, and "the return of Cyberpunk 2077 to the PlayStation Store."
At the end of May, Kiciński reiterated his promise to turn Cyberpunk 2077 around, saying that "we intend to live up to what we promised." Even though the game has now been out for half a year, he said that nearly half of the development team is still working on either the current releases or the upcoming next-gen editions.
Unfortunately, the return of Cyberpunk 2077 to the PlayStation Store does not mean that its problems are over, and Sony warned that PS4 users are likely still going to have problems with it.
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"Users will continue to experience performance issues with the PS4 edition while CD Projekt Red continues to improve stability across all platforms," Sony told IGN. "SIE recommends playing the title on PS4 Pro or PS5 for the best experience."
CD Projekt declined to comment further.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
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