Elden Ring may have won the top prize at the Japan Game Awards, but Cyberpunk 2077 is the most played single-player game on the Steam Charts right now.
Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the most anticipated games leading up to its launch two years ago. It received over 8 million pre-orders on all platforms as players bought into the hype surrounding the game.
When it was eventually released, it was well received by critics praising it for its narrative, setting, and graphics. However, all the excitement eventually turned into discontent as the game was mired by bugs and glitches. Cyberpunk 2077 was so bad that both the PlayStation and Xbox Stores carried warnings that the game had serious performance issues, and it was even removed from sale for a time. Thankfully, this is no longer the case; Cyberpunk 2077 is well worth playing today.
CD Projekt Red (CDPR), developers of Cyberpunk 2077, sorted out the performance issues and bugs. With the release of patch 1.6, most game-breaking glitches have been fixed and quality of life improvements have been introduced.
The response from the players to the updates has been overwhelmingly positive. Cyberpunk currently sits on top of the Steam Charts for the most number of current players. To put that into context, Cyberpunk 2077 just beat Monster Hunter: Rise and Elden Ring, which won the Game of the Year at the Japan Game Awards in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
As of writing, Cyberpunk 2077 is in 21st place in the Steam Charts with 46,000 players. Path of Exiles is the next single-player game on the list in 25th place.
CDPR has recently partnered with Netflix to create the anime spin-off series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. The animated series is set in Night City and follows the exploits of a street kid named David Martinez as he becomes an Edgerunner - a mercenary outlaw known as a Cyberpunk.
The show has likely contributed to the renewed interest in Cyberpunk 2077 as the increase in players coincided with the show’s release.
CDPR also deserves credit for the resurgence of Cyberpunk 2077. We're hoping that this new wave of popularity can convince the developers to prepare more DLCs outside of just Phantom Liberty, which is coming out next year. CDPR has confirmed that it's no longer working on more DLC content for Cyberpunk 2077. But, if the numbers for the game climbs even further, CDPR would be foolish not to listen.
If nothing else, Cyberpunk 2077's popularity should encourage CDPR to double down on its plans for the franchise.
Speaking of sequels, the next installment for the Cyberpunk series, along with Witcher 4, is moving to the new Unreal Engine 5. CDPR stated that using Unreal Engine 5 will allow the developers to focus on building the game and leave the engine-level development to Epic Games. Both games currently use the REDengine which was developed by CDPR exclusively for their non-linear video games.
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