‘Cyberpunk 2077’ multiplayer: CD Projekt Red confirms it was shelved due to the game’s tumultuous launch

CD Projekt Red said years ago that "Cyberpunk 2077" would have online multiplayer gameplay, which later became a planned standalone title. However, the developer has now confirmed it had to drastically change its plans following the base game's tumultuous launch two years ago.

In a few days, "Cyberpunk 2077" will hit its second anniversary. And to many players, especially those who started on PS4 and Xbox One consoles, it was not the most pleasant memory they have of the game. As many know, the game launched with a mountain of bugs, several missing features, and persistent performance issues.

The game's state at launch immensely affected CD Projekt Red's post-launch roadmap and plans, resulting in delayed DLCs and the free next-gen upgrade. The developer has now confirmed that the problematic launch also resulted in the eventual cancellation of the standalone "Cyberpunk 2077" multiplayer.

"We really needed to look at what were the priorities for Cyberpunk [after it launched]," Philipp Weber, who worked as senior quest designer for "Cyberpunk 2077," told Eurogamer. It is worth noting that the CD Projekt Red went on to spend over a year releasing major patches to fix the game's bugs and reduce crash issues. And by mid-2021, the studio said the game has reached a satisfactory level regarding stability and performance.

"Essentially, the switch of priorities meant that other R&D projects had to go away," Webber added. "With Cyberpunk, we wanted to do many things at the same time, and we just needed to really focus and say, 'Okay, what's the important part? Yeah, we will make that part really good.'"

Despite the standalone multiplayer being scrapped, "Cyberpunk 2077" players still have more things to look forward to next year. The developer has set a 2023 release window for the game's long-awaited story expansion titled "Phantom Liberty." It will introduce a new district and new characters, along with the return of Johnny Silvehand, portrayed by Keanu Reeves. But to achieve the best quality possible, CD Projekt Red has decided to focus its development on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

The game may not have been "Game of the Year" material at first, but players might agree that the developer has redeemed the game's quality after multiple patches and updates. And for CD Projekt Red, launching "Cyberpunk 2077 -- Game of the Year Edition" is a "natural" part of its process, as was the case with the "The Witcher" series.