Cyberpunk 2077 just got a huge price cut — should you buy it now?
Cyberpunk 2077's disastrous launch means the price is in free fall
Cyberpunk 2077’s launch woes continue to get worse, and just over a month after release the game is already seeing some heavy discounts. In fact, some retailers like Best Buy have been selling the game for half its launch price.
Of course, whether you would want to buy the game at all, even with such a hefty discount, is another question entirely. After all, we’re still waiting for developer CD Projekt Red to sort out the game’s many, many issues.
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While Cyberpunk is a victim of over-expectations on the part of some gamers, it’s been reported that the game was not ready to be released when it arrived on December 10. The launch version was glitchy, poorly optimized, and performed so badly on launch Xbox One and PS4 consoles that it was almost unplayable -- despite CDPR’s promises to the contrary.
It got so bad that Sony pulled the game from the PlayStation store. And Microsoft offered refunds to any disgruntled gamers that wanted one. While CDPR has promised more fixes are coming, the state of the game as it is is not very good. Which is no doubt why the game has been subject to such heavy discounts.
Currently Cyberpunk 2077 is $35 at BestBuy, $25 off the MSRP, and comes with a free steelbook case. That’s a pretty serious discount for such a new game, though reports claim it has gone as low as $30. Amazon is also selling the game for $35, but without the steelbook thrown in, and Walmart has the PS4 version available for $38 and the Xbox One for $37. Meanwhile GameStop is still selling new copies for the $60 MSRP.
Of course, even $25 off and the prospect of a free steelbook isn’t worth the cost of buying a game you may not be able to play. Those of you lucky enough to have an Xbox Series X or PS5 might be ok for the time being, but anyone else is going to face problems. And the older your hardware, the more problems you’ll have until CDPR can send out patches.
Of course fixes are coming, and if you want to play the game at some point you have to decide whether to buy now or wait. Buying now risks the chance that the game doesn’t really improve, and you’re stuck with a $35 hunk of plastic that can’t be played adequately. Likewise the price may sink further in the coming weeks, which would be very annoying.
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But if the game does improve, then the price may creep back up again. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no guarantee of that, and frankly we’re of the opinion that paying more for a game that works is a lot better than paying less for a game that doesn’t.
Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.