Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed to make sure it ran well on PS4 and Xbox One

Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed to December to improve its performance on PS4 and Xbox One, according to reports from CD Projekt Red's latest financial conference call.

Polish news site Pap Biznes attended the call which was hosted by CD Projekt CEO Adam Kicinski and other members of the company's executive leadership. According to its writeup, the executives explained that "this situation is different" compared to Cyberpunk 2077's previous delays: while the game plays well on PC and next-gen consoles, the company needs more time to make sure Cyberpunk 2077 is also satisfactory on current-gen systems.

The official delay announcement from yesterday lines up with this message, citing the difficulty of testing the game across nine versions and two console generations: "Since Cyberpunk 2077 evolved towards almost being a next-gen title somewhere along the way, we need to make sure everything works well and every version runs smoothly," the announcement read.

Kicinski said in the call that "we are firm" on delivering on the new release date of December 10, and that releasing on November 19 would have been possible and still is. But this way the game will hopefully make a better early impression, which will make a big impact in the long run: "The decision was not easy but we know there is just one release and the first impression is crucial."

Kicinski added that CD Projekt Red plans to implement some organizational changes to its technical departments in response to the delay, as "too many things were put together at late stages."

Senior level designer Miles Tost recently addressed some fans' concerns about cut content in Cyberpunk 2077.