Purchasers of the limited-edition Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X console bundle will be receiving a partial refund. When excited CD Projekt Red fans purchased a special edition Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X console, they were entirely unaware of the controversies that would follow. Yet nearly two years after the limited edition console went on sale, the Xbox One X buyers are still facing the consequences of CD Projekt Red's troubled Cyberpunk 2077 launch.
The special edition Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X sold out of pre-orders in June 2020. This was when Cyberpunk 2077 was still expected to launch in September 2020, before its delay to December of that year. The console still went out on schedule, so buyers acquired their Cyberpunk 2077-themed prize before hearing of the game's issues. Now those CD Projekt Red fans, those willing to spend hundreds of dollars before the game was even launched, are missing out on the game's first expansion.
Two years after launch and Cyberpunk 2077's first expansion Phantom of Liberty has been announced. A voucher for this DLC was included with the purchase of the Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X, but too much has changed between then and now. CD Projekt Red has announced that Phantom of Liberty will only be available for PC and next-gen consoles. It won't be released for Xbox One at all, so CD Projekt Red is going to give out partial refunds instead.
Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X buyers won't be getting cash back, however. Instead, they'll be getting their refund via Microsoft Store credits. That may be frustrating for some, as there's no guarantee those who purchased the Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X are still playing on Xbox consoles. Nevertheless, that's what CD Projekt Red has decided. Further details regarding how buyers can get their refund will be shared at a later date.
This is obviously not an optimal solution, but it's otherwise unavoidable at this point. CD Projekt Red likely didn't expect Cyberpunk 2077 to have such a challenging launch. It likely planned to have Phantom of Liberty available in 2021, with more DLC on the way. CD Projekt Red has also had to shift resources to its next game, rather than keeping them on Cyberpunk 2077. Supporting Xbox One X would only mire the developer in a struggling project that much longer.
The 45,000 or so people who purchased the Cyberpunk 2077 Xbox One X have every right to be frustrated with the situation, with CD Projekt Red ending support for the platform. There's unfortunately little recourse to the situation. They'll simply have to go forward with the awareness that CD Projekt Red didn't deliver on their expectations, and that pre-orders can be punishing.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
