Skyrocketing Cyberpunk 2077 player counts prove the Netflix boost is real

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The RPG has hit highs it hasn't seen since its troubled launch.

Promotional image of Cyberpunk Edgerunners overlaid on a Cyberpunk 2077 screenshot
I didn't make this. This is a real promotional image that CD Projekt Red made. (Image credit: CD Projekt Red, Netflix)

"Welp, the Cyberpunk 2077 anime made me want to give the game another shot," said our Wes Fenlon just this week. He wasn't alone, as tens of thousands have returned to CD Projekt Red's 2020 RPG shooter following the release of Studio Trigger's Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime.

Sites like SteamDB put Cyberpunk 2077's peak concurrent player count—on Steam alone—at over 85,000 in the last 24 hours. Those are player numbers it hasn't seen since January of 2021, with daily highs of something more like 10-15K more normal. Not surprising, given that its launch could be politely termed a disaster.

It's a sizable boost for a game that claims the highest all-time concurrent player count for a singleplayer game on Steam at 1,054,388. It's also the data point I needed to say that, combined with a timely sale, the Netflix player bump is very real.

We saw it last December when Arcane caused League of Legends' player count to boost by nearly 50%. Dota 2 saw boosts after the release of Dragon's Blood seasons 1 and 2. Heck, CD Projekt Red's own The Witcher beat its launch day numbers after the release of its Netflix series.

So, yeah, you could say that Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a bit of a second launch at the moment, with numbers that put most gaming debuts to shame. It's all very clearly orchestrated and marketed, much like a launch as CP2077 just got its 1.6 Edgerunner update.

Amid all of this you might be forgiven for not noticing that Keanu Reeves is coming back for a whole Cyberpunk 2077 expansion called Phantom Liberty. Guess he actually wasn't put off by the sex mods.

I call this a second launch for Cyberpunk 2077, but Fraser Brown thinks that the expansion will be CP2077's chance at salvation. He says it'll need to be "beyond polished" because it could well be the last real shot at salvaging the game's reputation.

Jonathan Bolding
Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.