Cyberpunk 2077’s multiplayer mode has been canceled after its whirlwind launch

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Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red has revealed that the game’s multiplayer mode has been canceled due to the game’s turbulent launch.

During an interview with Eurogamer, Philip Weber (who was a mission designer and senior coordinator on Cyberpunk 2077) revealed how development shifted to focusing on fixing what was there rather than adding new features.

“We really had to look at Cyberpunk’s priorities [after it launched], “He said.” The priority was to run the main experiment really well for people, and basically, the change in priorities meant other R&D projects had to come to an end. With Cyberpunk, we wanted to do a lot of things at the same time, and we just had to focus and say, ‘Okay, what’s the important part? Yeah, we’ll do that part really well.”

Cyberpunk 2077, which was recently confirmed to be released this year, was supposed to get a multiplayer mode as a DLC. However, it was delayed until at least 2022, and then later with the possibility of cancellation until it finally disappeared from CD Projekt Red’s plans.

Cyberpunk 2077 was among the most anticipated games to be released in 2020, but a launch riddled with glaring bugs and last-gen compatibility issues left many feeling bad.

The game itself scored fairly high on PC – IGN’s own review gave it a 9/10 and said: “Cyberpunk 2077 thrusts you into a dense and beautiful cityscape with few limitations. It offers an amazing amount of choice in how you build your character, approach quests and encounter enemies, and your decisions can have a tangible and natural impact on both the world around you and the stories of the people who inhabit it.”

Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Photo Gallery

However, this was not the case on console, with the PS4 and Xbox One review giving the game a 4/10. “The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions are not in acceptable condition, and it saddens me to think that a lot of people ruined their first Cyberpunk 2077 experience in this way – because when it works, it’s a great RPG.”

It turns out that the developers themselves didn’t think the game was ready to ship, with some saying they “expected the game to be ready in 2022” based on progress they saw in 2019.

However, the game was released in 2020, and while CD Projekt Red originally planned to add multiplayer at a later date, they seem to have been left on the back foot, patching and patching Cyberpunk over the next couple of years.

The Edgerunners update was released in September as the final patch to hit last-generation consoles, with CD Projekt Red now focusing exclusively on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC versions of the game. This extends to Cyberpunk 2077’s main single-player expansion, which is expected to release sometime in 2023.

Want to read more about Cyberpunk 2077? Check out the mod that adds Cyberpsycho dangers for Edgerunners to the game, as well as what to expect from the upcoming official novel for the game.

Ryan Liston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow it Twitter.

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