Cyberpunk 2077 has gone gold, according to its social media accounts, and will be ready for its scheduled launch date, November 19.
Concerns arose last week when it was revealed that developer CD Projekt Red had instituted mandatory overtime hours on its employees. This followed two previous delays – the highly-anticipated open-world action-adventure game was originally set to launch April 16, 2020, then September 17, until landing firmly in the middle of the holiday shopping season.
Though Cyberpunk 2077 has gone gold and is ready to be released, the development team will continue to work on fixing any bugs that remain. In emails released by an anonymous employee last week, CD Projekt Red’s Head of Studio Adam Badowski stated that while the game had been submitted to Sony and Microsoft, “the entire studio is in overdrive” still. This means a day one patch is all but confirmed, and should contain some vital fixes.
CD Projekt Red has been under much scrutiny for its working conditions throughout the game’s development, similar to Naughty Dog and The Last of Us 2. Development staff across the games industry have been pushed above and beyond in the current ecosystem, in an effort to stick to deadlines and release dates, but the toll upon individuals can be heavy. Nonetheless, Badowski confirmed that his staff is “well compensated for every extra hour they put in,” and 10% of the company’s annual profits will be distributed amongst them.
We’ll see the fruits of their extensive labours when we journey to Night City next month.
