Not a single day of gaming news has gone by without some new tidbit coming out in the wake of the disastrous launch that was Cyberpunk 2077. Normally, describing a video game release as "disastrous" would be sensationalism, but it really has rung true for CD Projekt Red's latest RPG. All versions of the game shipped with various bugs and glitches, ranging from humorous annoyance to game-breaking issue. The game was even de-listed entirely from PlayStation's store, alongside extending its often stringent refund policy. And yet, in spite of all this, CD Projekt Red's first DLC plans for the game are still planned to release in early 2021.
Unfortunately for fans hoping for a fix any time soon, the Cyberpunk 2077 train intends to keep rolling along regardless of the state of the game. Fixes like the big January and February patches are still planned at the moment, but CD Projekt Red still plans to release its consistent free DLC updates for Cyberpunk 2077 early next year. Obviously in any other conceivable context, free DLC would be a welcome addition, especially from CD Projekt Red. Hypothetically speaking, Cyberpunk 2077 could potentially be in a much more stable release state in February 2021, but if it's not, complaints and backlash over a still-broken game will almost certainly arise.
DLC Before Patches Could Make Cyberpunk's Situation Worse
CD Projekt Red hasn't exactly provided any of the specifics for this DLC in early 2021, which certainly makes sense. How could it? Sure, DLC in game development is typically handled by a separately comprised team, but it's not like most players know that. Understandably so, there will be plenty of reactions to this news by fans asking CDPR to "fix the game first" before any Cyberpunk 2077 post-launch content is released. DLC is pretty much always pre-planned, so there's a very possible scenario where Cyberpunk 2077 still has significant performance issues when its first post-launch content releases. Fans won't be happy in that scenario.
Without drastic improvement of the game's technical issues and bugs, there's just not going to be very many players coming back in 2021 for DLC. It can't be understated how poorly the game runs on PS4 and Xbox One, so much so that PlayStation willingly de-listed the game altogether. For those who didn't have to deal with the process of attempting to get a refund of Cyberpunk 2077, it's going to be a while before the game will be stable enough to play on last-gen consoles. Even on PS5/Xbox Series X and PC, Cyberpunk 2077 still has several technical issues that none of the hotfixes thus far have solved.
Alternatively, Delaying DLC Would Be a Cruel Joke for Cyberpunk 2077
There's also the possibility of this DLC getting delayed, but that's the other side of the double-edged sword. If anything, it'd just be a cruel joke for Cyberpunk 2077, which was clearly delayed three times because of the technical issues that still plague the game. Even just announcing this DLC amidst all this controversy and technical problems is troublesome enough, but to have DLC with a vague "early 2021" release window get delayed even further is just going to further stain Cyberpunk 2077's reputation. Killing any kind of redeeming momentum like that wouldn't do Cyberpunk 2077 any favors, which in turn would affect patch development as well.
Cyberpunk 2077 has a reputation to save, just as much as it "had a city to burn" leading up to its release. CD Projekt Red had (and to many, still has) a reputation for success, depth, and quality unlike many other triple-A developers of massive singleplayer RPGs. The Witcher 3 is widely considered one of the most definitive games of the PS4/Xbox One console generation, which is definitely strange to think about now that Cyberpunk 2077's release stands alongside it for CD Projekt Red. DLC is the proper (and perhaps the only) way to try and save what damage has been done by the base game, aside from fixing the performance issues with patches and hotfixes.
Games and developers have certainly made comebacks in the past, so it's not out of the question for CD Projekt Red to make a complete 180 with Cyberpunk 2077. Most will point to No Man's Sky or Anthem as prime examples here, but Cyberpunk 2077 more accurately finds itself in a similar situation that Destiny 2 has been in before. Destiny 2 has previously introduced new features while fans continue to complain about broken weapons, abilities, or mechanics, balancing new content while vocal fans continually complain about existing issues. Although, to be fair, Destiny 2 isn't in nearly as vulnerable a state as Cyberpunk 2077 certainly is in now.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One
