Latest news with #PhantomLiberty
Metro
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Switch 2 review
The most important third party release for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a port of Cyberpunk 2077 and its expansion Phantom Liberty, but how does it run on the new console? If you'd asked me before the Switch 2 was unveiled, what game I would want to put in my pocket and carry around all day, it would probably have been Cyberpunk 2077. If you'd asked me what I thought of Nintendo, I would have shrugged. PC and PlayStation have long been my bread and butter and Nintendo are usually only a secondary consideration. Like many fans, I've been following the game all the way from its first loud statement of a trailer in 2013, with my first playthrough being in 2020, after its disastrous launch on last gen hardware. Based on the 1988 tabletop game, which was in turn heavily inspired by the work of the writer William Gibson, there is an expansive universe of language, lore, and narrative in Cyberpunk 2077 that gives the game great weight and depth. I first entered the world of Night City to pilot my own chromed-up Valerie on the PS4 Pro, once some of the early patches had killed off the worst of the infamous last gen launch bugs. Even then, it was capped to 30fps and I found myself clipping through the world at regular intervals, the black void loading screens between some scenes stretching on for a full minute at a time. Night City itself, a vast neon-bathed techno sprawl, was largely empty. There was simply not enough processing power to allow for dense crowds and busy roads. For this review I revisited my PS4 Pro edition and played the first three hours, before diving into the Switch 2 version, and I can only conclude that the pure magic of the game itself is what kept so many of us sticking with it to the end, despite the poor performance. In a way, the nightmare launch was almost a blessing, as CD Projekt Red have not stopped repenting for it. We got a free upgrade to the PlayStation 5 edition – a rare snippet of altruism from a developer in today's gaming climate – and a wonderful Bond-esque slice of DLC in 2023's Phantom Liberty, that was criminally excluded from The Game Awards (the rules were later changed for Elden Ring's 2024 DLC). I should acknowledge that Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on the Switch 2 occupies a weird space in terms of new releases. In an era of constant remakes and remasters, a port of a game that is now almost five years old, as a flagship third party launch title for the Switch 2, is an odd sell. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. But I see Nintendo's logic. Cyberpunk 2077 has long been a benchmark for graphic performance. Indeed, the new 50 series Nvidia GPUs had Cyberpunk running front and centre in their marketing for achievements in, albeit controversial, AI-boosted graphical fidelity and frame rates. So Nintendo, or rather CD Projekt, pulling off a passable version of Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 is a perfectly braggable achievement. So, to address the sceptical gamer's key question: is it a buggy, unplayable mess, à la 2020? Well, no. In fact, it's really good. I'll admit I was nervous playing the preview at the Switch 2 Experience – how on earth would a 40fps cap, at 720p in handheld mode, handle intense gunfights, when I'm used to 100+ fps on my gaming rig? But this thing is a technical marvel, surgically jammed into less than 64GB by CD Projekt Red's own ripper doctors (AAA studios, take note). Visually, Nintendo's DLSS and ray tracing capabilities are doing a lot of heavy lifting. The lighting is seriously impressive and feels current gen. The graphics sit comfortably well above the nine-year-old PS4 Pro, and a little below the hefty PlayStation 5. In handheld mode you'll get around two- and a-bit hours of gameplay. Make of that what you will, but you won't find the console burning up in your hands, which is impressive. The unit feels only a little warm to the touch after several hours. Crucially though, I've been playing happily and willingly every day since launch and have yet to encounter any serious crashes. Do frames drop a bit when you're trying to kill 20 of the most chromed-up 6th Street Gang members you've ever seen, in a bustling Night City in handheld mode? Yes, of course. There's some stutter in areas of the map and whilst driving, but it's just not enough to throw you out – especially when you recall the PS4 Pro's capped 30fps and frame stutter. Anecdotally, the main issue I've encountered in combat is actually that it is far too easy to hit the grenade button (R) on the Joy-Con in handheld mode. When you're jamming the shoot bumper (ZR) right next to it as much as I do, bad things are bound to happen. And that bad thing is panic-dropping a grenade at V's feet mid-combat. Ouch. The Pro Controller or third party controller is therefore a recommended addition to your playthrough, trust me on this. What's also impressive is that CD Projekt Red have utilised absolutely every bell and whistle Nintendo has to offer with the Switch 2. The user Interface and menu system is fully touchscreen, whilst narrowly side-stepping naff iPad accusations. You can also, hilariously, use the Joy-Cons like a Wii remote. I highly recommend running around with mantis blades and pulling punches during the street-fighting side quest, it's hugely satisfying and I've never felt more cyberpunk. The best part is that none of this feels like a forced, obnoxious gimmick. It's just cool and it's there if you fancy it. CD Projekt Red may well spend the rest of Cyberpunk's lifespan, and all future titles, repenting for the launch day disaster. But in repenting we've gotten a solid and complete game that pulls out all of the stops, with nothing spared. Putting the game on a physical, 64GB cartridge, that doesn't require you to download most of it, also feels like a direct nod to the consumer – as unlike most other third party titles this doesn't come on a Game-Key Card. But what about other handhelds? It offers a hell of a lot more flexibility than the Steam Deck's offering, whilst certainly being far more reliable and stable. There is the Xbox handheld just around the corner, but it's widely predicted to cost more than the Switch 2, as the two year old ROG Ally series goes for £450-£800 across all variants. So the Switch 2 version not only performs better than other handheld options but it's overall cheaper too. More Trending Of course, if you've never played the game before, perhaps because the Switch 1 was your last gen console, then this is an easy sell. It's not the best version of the game but it's a classy port that works well in both handheld and TV mode, with very few compromises. Update 2.3, due out on June 26, is set to be the last one for the game, so the question is: when that's released will I be logging in on my high-spec gaming PC, my PlayStation 5, or the Switch 2? Much like the chromed-up street rats that roam Night City, I am a creature of convenience. So, getting to play the game in an unbroken state wherever I want is a very tempting prospect. Although the cross-platform save support means that if you're enough of an insane gonk to own multiple copies, you don't actually need to make that choice. Formats: Nintendo Switch 2 (reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PCPrice: £59.99Publisher: CD ProjektDeveloper: CD Projekt RedRelease Date: 5th June 2025 Age Rating: 3 Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Where to buy the Nintendo Switch 2 in the UK right now MORE: Yakuza 0 Director's Cut review – Kiryu on the Nintendo Switch 2 MORE: Games Inbox: Is Nintendo the best video game company ever?
Geek Culture
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
'Cyberpunk 2077' On MacBook Pro M4 Max Shown At Apple WWDC On Ultra Settings At 120fps
Apple has shown off the gaming prowess of the MacBook Pro M4 Max at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025, by providing a first look at CD Projekt RED's RPG Cyberpunk 2077 running on the system with ultra settings, and at 120fps. @geekculture At WWDC 2025, Apple and CD Projekt RED showed off Cyberpunk 2077 running natively on the MacBook Pro M4 Max! CD Projekt RED's Paweł Sasko takes us through how the team used Apple's suite of technologies to run the game on Ultra at a smooth 120fps. #Apple #WWDC2025 #MacBookProM4Max #CDProjektRED #CyberPunk2077 ♬ original sound – Geek Culture Featuring a snippet of live gameplay taken while exploring Dogtown's EBM Petrochem Stadium in the game's Phantom Liberty expansion, CD Projekt RED provided a sneak peek into some of the technologies used to achieve its performance milestone on Apple's platform. The complete Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, which includes the base game, the Phantom Liberty expansion, Update 2.0 with all its content, as well as any free DLCs, is slated to go on sale on the Mac App Store, Steam and Epic Games Store. According to the developers, the game is able to hit such high framerates at ultra settings due to two factors: Apple's MetalFX upscaler integration and optimisation of the game's REDengine framework. Robert 'Radek' Malinowski, Global Communication Director (left), Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director (right) 'When it comes to the REDengine, it's a very scalable technology, and we always try to squeeze out as much performance as we can, no matter the platform, be it Apple devices, the Nintendo Switch or PC and consoles,' explained Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director at CD Projekt RED. To achieve maximum performance, the CD Projekt team worked closely with Apple on the utilisation of its MetalFX upscaling to deliver higher definition images from a lower definition source, and MetalFX frame interpolation, which generates in-between frames for smoother, more fluid motion. Additionally, optimisation methods were implemented like FP16, or 16-bit Floating Point, which uses 16 bits instead of 32 bits to relieve the load on the system's CPU, pushing out more performance with minimal detriment to image quality. Today my chooms at Apple Park we're showing Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition to international press and content creators — running on a MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip, hitting 120 FPS on Ultra settings. Coming in 2025! 🥰🍎 — Paweł Sasko (@PaweSasko) June 10, 2025 The brief section of gameplay did highlight some impressive shaders on display, courtesy of Apple's Metal shader converter, providing not only crisp visuals but also realistic interactions between projected lights and objects in the environment. In a 12-minute demo, Sasko used a controller to navigate the game, previewed interactions with in-game characters, including the cameo appearances by the developer's co-founders, Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński, character movements and more importantly, the lighting and shadows generated within the game, to make the sharp visuals and complex colours stand out. Framerate-wise, the game seemed smooth for the most part, apart from noticeable dips in certain sections when panning the camera. It's also to be noted that the team claimed that the game was able to hit 120fps in that particular scene, so it remains to be seen if the game can maintain those figures in more complex scenes like combat, or open world traversal when Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition launches on the Mac App Store sometime in 2025. For more on WWDC 2025, check out our coverage on Apple iOS 26's enhanced UI with Liquid Glass and intelligent features, and the 10 Apple Unified OS 26 features we can't wait to see and use. Sherwin once held the Matrix of Leadership, but wisely passed it on to the rightful leader of the household. Apple Cyberpunk 2077 MacBook Pro M4 Max WWDC 2025
Forbes
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Reason There's No More ‘Starfield' DLC
Starfield There was a new Xbox showcase this past week with a lot of solid offerings, but what was supposed to be one of the biggest games of this entire era was nowhere to be found. That would be Bethesda's Starfield, the new IP from the developer that Microsoft previously bragged was the studio's biggest launch ever. Starfield was released in September of 2023, and its first DLC, Shattered Space, was released in September of 2024. So, Starfield fans were hoping that this showcase would debut another DLC that was going to be out this fall, despite how late of notice that might have been. Nope, didn't happen. And I think when you examine how this game has performed and the support it's gotten, you'll understand why. Starfield I don't care about the current numbers on this Steamdb chart but see if you can guess where the launch of Shattered Space was here. Can you see it? Do you need a microscope? Yes, it's that little blip in September to the right of the middle. The launch of the expansion took the game to a 21,000 peak, double-ish what the game was averaging before that. If you want a comparison point, here's the launch of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, three years after the game's (poor) launch. Starfield FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder It's obvious, and the expansion went on to have about a 30% attach rate to the original game. Some may say that Xbox players who got the full bundle for launch may have played it more, but it's not like this game did not sell very well on Steam, and I don't think the numbers were wildly better elsewhere. Bethesda and Microsoft do not believe there's enough of an audience for a second expansion. They're right, clearly. The Shattered Space expansion was not even good, for that matter, so in addition to just making something, they'd have to make it a lot better. Combine this with Bethesda being half a decade behind on making Elder Scrolls VI, and there's just no chance this was going to happen. Bethesda has attempted to channel Skyrim and open up mod tools for Starfield, but that has disappointed that community as it hasn't been good enough support, and big scene modders have abandoned the game entirely. Starfield should have been a game that received ongoing support and built itself out with features and additions and content like we saw with the game it emulated, No Man's Sky. But Bethesda is not Hello Games, and Starfield was not given this support. It got a vehicle update, some new base items. The ability to not completely wreck all your items when switching ships. Not much, nor did it deliver a good DLC, and the numbers reflect that. Starfield's done. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Fool Me Eight Times: ‘Cyberpunk 2077' Releasing Big New 2.3 Patch Soon
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty CDPR has previously made a big show of the fact that it was moving on to Cyberpunk 2077's next iteration, the sequel codenamed Orion. That involved ceasing development 2077 shortly after its 2.0 Phantom Liberty expansion dropped, but that…did not turn out to be the case. It's an ongoing joke at this point that despite the fact that CDPR says it's done with Cyberpunk 2077, they keep making new patches. And now a big one is on the horizon. CDPR has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 patch 2.3 will arrive on June 26. As a full 'point' numbered patch, it's going to be a big one. Here's what happened in the last two big patches: Patch 2.1 Patch 2.2 Cyberpunk 2077 CDPR There have been other patches in between these that are mostly technical in nature or adding somewhat minor new things. But the point being, the game has received significant updates since Phantom Liberty launched in 2023. This 2.3 patch came up during a CDPR stream where they were asked about new DLC for the game. They revealed the patch was coming, but I believe they consider the above features to be technically DLC, rather than say, an expansion like Phantom Liberty. Still, there are recent hints that there may be at least some new quests in development for a future update, maybe this one, based on job listings. Why now? Well, CDPR really didn't seem to need a reason before, but this new update will come a month after Cyberpunk 2077 has launched on Nintendo Switch 2, something of a technical miracle that they were able to make that happen on a handheld system with those specs. It's a potential new audience getting to play the entire game up to patch 2.2 from the start, which is awesome. But now, 2.3 will be here soon and I'm guessing it will be similar to the last two. I cannot wait to see what it brings, and I will be reinstalling just to check it out. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
The Star
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
CD Projekt launches Cyberpunk 2077 game on Nintendo Switch 2
Boxes with CD Projekt's game Cyberpunk 2077 are displayed in Warsaw, Poland, December 14, 2020. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo GDANSK (Reuters) -Poland's biggest game developer CD Projekt said on Thursday that "Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition" had been launched on the Nintendo Switch 2 console, bringing it to Nintendo players for the first time. Back catalogue sales have become more important for developers due to the increasing number of delays to new games. Last month, Tomb Raider owner Embracer said it was leaning on its back catalogue to maintain cash flow while fewer games are being released. Since the release of "Phantom Liberty" expansion to "Cyberpunk 2077" in September 2023, CD Projekt has been relying on sales of existing games from its back catalogue. Erste Group analyst Krzysztof Tkocz said in a note to clients that the release on Nintendo Switch 2 "will have a significant impact on the company's results in second quarter and subsequent quarters". Gaming fans queued up for the launch of Nintendo's Switch 2 on Thursday amid pent-up demand for the more powerful next-generation gaming device. "We expect that this could be one of the most popular 3rd party games at the launch of the new console", Trigon DM analyst Grzegorz Balcerski said in a note to clients. The price of the game has been set at $69.99 for Nintendo Switch 2. (Reporting by Adrianna Ebert; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
