It’s an exciting time for the gaming community, as the shift to the next-gen console experience draws near. Both Sony and Microsoft have confirmed and showcased a host of new, impressive technology for enhanced gameplay, with the latter’s Smart Delivery feature set to support Xbox One to Xbox Series X upgrade plans. CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 will be making full use of that, granting potential Xbox Series X owners backward compatibility – and it seems PS5 enthusiasts are now poised to receive the same treatment.
Taking to Twitter to announce the news, the official Cyberpunk 2077 account confirms that the game will be backward compatible on both platforms at launch later this year. “A later upgrade to Cyberpunk 2077 taking full advantage of the next-gen hardware, will be available for free,” continues the developer’s post in the accompanying reply thread.
It’s likely that the move to go backward compatible has contributed to the game’s second delay. The first saw its release being pushed back to 17 September 2020 instead of an initial April launch, citing the need for more time to polish and refine the game. Cyberpunk 2077 is now reassigned to a 19 November 2020 release.
Microsoft and Sony, meanwhile, have both not committed to a specific launch date for their next-gen consoles, except for a rough Holiday 2020 window.
Given Sony’s decision to make PS5 games exclusive to the console, Cyberpunk 2077‘s backward compatibility on the PS5 does come across as a huge surprise – albeit a delightful one. While this may appear to be the first hint of confirmation that Sony is adopting a similar Smart Delivery approach, it’d be good for fans to not get too comfortable with the idea: a Sony spokesperson seems to suggest that the company has no plans for a formal upgrade programme, with PS4 to PS5 game upgrades to be done only at the publisher’s discretion.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
