As we know, the new generation of consoles hasn’t exactly started off on the right foot, partly due to COVID, which has forced several software houses to work in conditions never experienced before and partly due to the inability of some of these realities to adapt to the new situation, which has exacerbated some problems already present for some time in industry. The latest problems of the next gen concern the upgrades of games born in the last generation, many of them currently overdue considerably: let’s find out what exactly is going on.
Late next gen upgrade: what’s going on?
There are many next gen upgrades subject to delays currently, but the ones that have made the most talk are, as expected, related to the usual suspects. The news of the postponement of the update of Cyberpunk 2077 e The Witcher, both CD Projekt Red titles. The upgrades should have arrived by the end of the year, but the software house has decided to postpone them to 2022.
Particularly formal and bureaucratic was the way in which this delay was announced: “The board of the company’s management here announces that, based on the recommendations provided by the people who are overseeing the development, it has decided to allocate additional time for both projects”. Only later did the software house propose a tweet in which it apologizes to the fans for the long wait.
Apparently the new launch period for the update of Cyberpunk 2077 is set for first quarter of 2022, between January and March, while that of The Witcher 3 is scheduled for second quarter. At this point one wonders if it still makes sense to publish an update for the new generation dedicated to the adventures of Geralt of Rivia: on balance it is a very old title by now and, above all, strongly rooted in the last generation of consoles.
The situation is different for Cyberpunk, which before turning out to be a both media and technical disaster, seemed to go hand in hand with the concept of next gen. Could a good upgrade of this game still revive the fortunes of CD Projket’s latest effort? Perhaps. The point is, it looks like we’ll have to wait a long time to find out. Time that may seem too much for some.
We proceed in no particular order
Beyond the individual cases, of which we have cited two of the most emblematic so as not to get lost in an infinite list of examples, it is evident how there is no real strategy regarding this type of update. This is also demonstrated only by the fact that initially these updates were defined as always free, but already in recent months Sony has begun to set stakes in this regard.
The Japanese giant has in fact made official its will to want to make a payment updates from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5. Making this upgrade will cost 10 euros and this policy will apply to all company games, excluding Horizon Forbidden West. A questionable choice, especially if we consider how much PlayStation 5 is still largely unavailable on the market.
It is important to specify that this policy applies, for now, only to Sony’s first party titles, and Microsoft on the contrary does not seem willing to impose such a limit in turn, also in light of its different marketing strategy. However Sony’s decision could have serious negative repercussions on the market, of which in part we are already seeing the effects.
Just to name a case, Electronic Arts has already confirmed that the FIFA 22 it will be paid, and it is likely that many other software houses, having carte blanche, will opt for this solution. Of course this is not a negative phenomenon as such, everything will affect the functions that will actually be implemented thanks to this update, but it is undeniable that the situation can get out of hand very quickly.