Cyberpunk 2077's multiplayer won't be available when the game releases this month via the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, and Google Stadia, and it sounds like that's at least partially because it's going to be its own big and standalone product. According to the Polish developer, the game's multiplayer is more than just a mode, which is to say bigger than a tacked-on experience.
According to CD Projekt Red, the multiplayer is a separate, dedicated, and big production that will more or less be a standalone product. If this sounds familiar, it's because it's how GTA Online functions with GTA 5. And it's safe to assume whenever multiplayer for the game does release, it will draw many comparisons to GTA Online.
"So, first, we don't call it a mode," said CDPR's Adam Kicinski while talking about the game's multiplayer. "It's a separate dedicated production, a big production. We think about it as a standalone product."
While CD Projekt Red is billing the game's multiplayer as its own thing, it has confirmed it won't be completely divorced from the game's campaign, which is being made by an entirely different team.
Unfortunately, this is all CD Projekt Red is saying about the mode right now, which remains not only unrevealed, but a complete enigma for those looking forward to it. That said, CD Projekt Red has reaffirmed this will change in the first quarter of 2021, which is to say sometime between January 1, 2021 and April 1, 2021.
Multiplayer is a new territory for CD Projekt Red, which is both promising and worrying. For one, it has the potential to bring new ideas to the table because of this, but a lack of experience could also ultimately wind up hurting the final product as well. However, given the resources and the talent the studio possesses, you'd bet on it succeeding with its multiplayer debut.