How Cyberpunk's latest patch affects performance on PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5

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Cyberpunk 2077 has returned to the PlayStation Store, and overall it seems the latest patch has positively affected its performance across PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5, according to a Digital Foundry comparison video.

The most recent Cyberpunk 2077 patch notes for update 1.23 outlined fixes for a ton of quest bugs and replaced duplicated NPCs. The patch also fixed animation crashes, the UI, and various gameplay systems.

Cyberpunk 2077 was pulled from the PlayStation Store back in December 2020 due to multiple game-breaking bugs and other performance issues. It was added back to the PlayStation Store just a few days ago, with Sony still warning players of lingering performance issues. In fact, the company flat-out recommended players avoid the PS4 version and instead play on PS4 Pro or PS5. The PlayStation store goes even further with a disclaimer discouraging players from buying the game for the base PS4.

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This leads us to Digital Foundry's lengthy video comparing Cyberpunk 2077's performance across the base PS4, PS4 Pro, and PS5 after patch 1.23. According to the tests, the base PS4's frame rate has increased all around, but is still "far, far from where it needs to be, especially in combat or busy streets." While the base PS4 consistently hovers in the high 20fps range and often hits 30fps, graphically intense areas and scenes will see it struggle to stay in the 20fps range at all. There are also still a bunch of bugs and visual glitches, with hitching and stuttering still occurring regularly and NPCs on busy streets not fully rendering. At one point, as the player is driving along the streets of Night City, a road block appears just a few feet ahead, giving them no time to avoid crashing into it.

On the PS4 Pro, however, the game flows at an almost completely steady 30fps. Digital Foundry points out that this was mostly the case after patch 1.20, so there's not much discernible difference in the latest patch. Some things still pop in far too late, though, like an enemy who appears right in front of the player blasting away with their gun. There is still a "tangible boost" in performance overall, Digital Foundry says, with some lingering visual bugs. "With every new update it seems to get closer to the mark," the video states.

Ultimately, Cyberpunk 2077 looks and feels the best on PS5 - an unsurprising but still frustrating fact considering it is running on last-gen software. The game consistently performs at 60fps, but it seems patch 1.23 focused mostly on the older machines, as there aren't many differences on PS5 – which still runs incredibly well, especially when you consider its 60fps capabilities are only a "temporary fix." The proper Cyberpunk 2077 PS5 and Xbox Series X upgrade is coming later this year and will offer a true new-gen experience, so you may want to hold out a little longer if you've been on the fence.