Cyberpunk 2077: how bad is next-gen performance?

It is an extraordinary state of affairs. CD Projekt Red has publicly admitted that the next-gen console versions of Cyberpunk 2077 have deep problems, that the scale of technical issues faced by older machines was underestimated, and that the game was released anyway. While a public statement and an emergency call to investors, the company talks about improving next-generation experience and troubleshooting glitches, glitches and errors. A patch patch is out, with another due in seven days, with major patches due in January and February.

“After three delays, we as the board of directors were too focused on launching the game,” said Adam Kiciński, CDPR’s deputy executive director. “We underestimated the scale and complexity of the issues, we ignored the signals about the need for additional time to refine the game on the next-gen base consoles. It was the wrong approach and against our business philosophy. On top of that, during during during the campaign, we showed the game mainly on PC. “

CDPR says their hope is that their efforts “allow us to rebuild the trust we’ve lost,” but the process by which we end up in this situation is staggering, representing a failure in the entire validation process that a console game is ready. . launching. Usually a game is finished and sent to the third-party departments of the platform holders, who test it against a series of strict criteria and return the game if it falls short.

Noticeably poor performance aside for a moment, a game with this level of instability (specifically in terms of the game actually crashing) would normally fail to pass certification, but somehow Cyberpunk 2077 did. In the call to investors, CDPR specifically absolved Microsoft and Sony of liability, saying it told the platform holders that the issues would be addressed. Game developer Rami Ismail delves into the certification process here, saying that waivers can be granted from platform holders that exempt games from certain tests within the certification process. It’s not uncommon for games to hit the market with problems, but those for Cyberpunk 2077 are so obvious, and so widespread, that the system may need to be revised.

At this time, we have tested every console version of the game available, but due to the large size of the game and the fact that it is available on so many different systems, we are not going to claim that we have any kind of definitive analysis, just a set of data points. The experiences seem to vary from user to user, system to system, but what it says is that problems manifest as soon as you enter Night City. Even content we’ve seen in demos (areas of the game that you would expect to see tested and re-tested for years) can have some deep problems. With this in mind, it tests the credibility that CDPR thought they could tackle so many issues in the time available. In fact, the patch schedule the firm suggests points to a game that needs weeks, if not months, of more development time.

On top of that, I think what’s troubling here is that the perceived definition of ‘deep trouble’ may well vary from CD Projekt Red’s. official statement on the problems and solutions you are pursuing, the developer is not specifically concerned with performance. The only details we get are related to other issues, like game crashing or the myriad of bugs. In the emergency call to the investor, CDPR even advises us to be realistic about the performance, but it does so in a curious way when comparing the last generation versions of Cyberpunk 2077 against the PC and the next generation versions.

No one expects the base Xbox One to hit 60 frames per second like the PlayStation 5, but dramatically improving performance so that we’re not playing for much of the time between 15-30 fps is just as important as resolving the various bugs and glitches. Perhaps this is what CDPR means when it says that the patches “will not make the game look like it runs on a high-end PC or next-gen console, but it will be closer to that experience than it is now” . – but it is still very indescribable. Full stretches of the Xbox One game can be displayed in the low 20fps area, and drops below are frequent. It is also concerning that CDPR is specifically referring to base consoles, when the upgraded machines, PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, also have problems, especially Microsoft’s console.

So, beyond the bugs, glitches, and glitches, what are the issues facing next-gen machines? Everything we’ve seen so far suggests bottlenecks on multiple fronts. The entry-level Xbox One S is the weakest next-gen machine and has the most problems: performance is even lower than the already poor PlayStation 4, visuals are reduced more noticeably, and resolution seems to drop to lows in the region of just 1200×675. At the other end of the scale, our tests suggest that the PlayStation 4 Pro is probably the most stable next-gen version available right now – performance can still drop dramatically, but it can still outperform the Xbox One X by up to five frames per second. , which is actually very important when the frame rate is that low to begin with. The next shot highlights the problem: Navigating the city or driving through it at high speed causes problems in each next-generation console.

In terms of what the reason for these performance issues really is, we may have some information here, due to the fact that next-gen consoles are essentially running the latest-gen codebase, albeit with a few tweaks. PlayStation 5 effectively executes PlayStation 4 code with an unlocked frame rate, while Xbox series consoles receive Xbox One code with some additional quality settings improvements, including improved density on NPCs and vehicles along with the addition of ambient occlusion along with other adjustments. . The Xbox Series S may have a lower-powered GPU than the Xbox One X, but it actually offers a much more consistent and enjoyable experience, and this runs from the same codebase as well.

So a process of deduction suggests the following: First of all, a lack of memory on the latest generation machines may not be the problem – Xbox One X has 9GB of usable RAM and is still in serious trouble. Meanwhile, the S Series has less memory and seems to offer a better and more consistent experience overall. Where the machine has clear victories against next-gen consoles is in terms of storage and, more importantly, CPU power. Evidence suggests that when Cyberpunk 2077 is running at its worst, a lack of CPU grunt is the main culprit. It’s especially evident when driving around town – the streaming systems in the background are very heavy on the CPU and all versions crash. Even console, Stadia, and next-gen PC builds see reduced performance here. The only problem with this theory is the Xbox One X – its CPU is faster than the PS4 Pro’s, but the Pro routinely outperforms it in terms of performance across the board, albeit to varying degrees.

Most of our data comes from the release code and a 1.04 patch has already emerged that seeks to address some of the biggest game-breaking issues, but there is little indication that performance is a priority at the moment and to be fair , simply getting the game to work without freezing, crashing or crashing should be the main focus. But fundamentally, the challenge facing CDPR is enormous. Based on frame rates that can drop into adolescence, the engineering effort required to revise the game to perform well on a next-gen Jaguar CPU will be extraordinary.

With The Witcher 3, we saw significant improvements as new patches came out and complex scenes like Novigrad and the infamous Crookback Bog improved over time, so there is hope that something can be done here to improve things, but to To be frank, the idea of ​​adding 50% more performance or even doubling the frame rate in Cyberpunk 2077 is a phenomenal question for developers. However, when base consoles perform so poorly, especially Xbox One, that’s what it takes. Right now, it really seems like the game is just too ambitious for the most outdated console hardware (and even the most powerful upgraded machines are struggling) but hopefully in the months to come CD Projekt Red can prove us wrong, delivering a stable, error-free experience that hits its target of 30 frames per second.