Performance issues on all platforms are marring the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 for some players. Posts on social media sites like Reddit and Twitter suggest that the game isn't running as well as many had hoped on PC, PS4, or Xbox One.
One post, titled "this game is unfinished and [a] total disaster with graphics and texture applying" is currently sitting towards the top of the game's official subreddit with more than 22,000 upvotes. The poster, cellymdewitt, says that "it's so clear to see that after 4 hours of playing this game is still a worksite," and that on PS4 the game is poorly optimised and suffers from severe texture pop-in. Elsewhere, Twitter user Legolas highlighted a clip from streamer gautoz, emphasizing the difference between CDPR's marketing and the final game.
Welcome... to #Cyberpunk2077 on PS4 fat / XBO ! pic.twitter.com/77BSmEuw6yDecember 9, 2020
Another post, from TheMightyJimmyB, is titled "I can't believe how bad the game looks/runs on PC." Describing the experience as "such a disappointment," the poster says that they are "scraping 55fps with low settings," on a build that "can run most AAA games on high settings and hit about 100fps without an issue." They also claim that in around an hour of play, they've discovered "10-15 bugs." Another PC player posted a clip that appeared to show aspects of the environment repeatedly popping in and out of shot.
On Twitter, user exomerai encouraged players not to buy the game on Xbox One, saying "even with my Xbox One X the game looks horrible," citing "low frame rates and an absurd amount of blurring & smoothing to hide poor graphics performance."
Those playing on PC may have a few tools at their disposal to improve performance, with one post at the top of the subreddit telling players to turn down the Cascaded Shadows Resolution setting - poster Cohibaluxe said that "changing this from high to medium ore than doubled my FPS instantly." Console players may not be so lucky, however, as that option doesn't seem to be available, at least on PlayStation.
The issues with the game are continuing to show up, even after a 28GB console update (which one developer said would make Cyberpunk 2077 "a different game") on top of the 43GB pre-launch patch. CD Projekt Red has also delayed the game three times, citing more time needed for polish. If you're still trying to decide what platform you're hoping to play on, a YouTuber has already put together a side-by-side comparison of how the game runs on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
If you're still on the fence about a trip to Night City, check out our Cyberpunk 2077 review.
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I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.
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