Cyberpunk 2077 next-gen update available, Patch 1.5 overhauls gameplay

Cyberpunk 2077's long awaited next-gen patch has finally arrived. With Patch 1.5, Cyberpunk 2077 now properly supports the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 consoles, but next-gen enhancements are just a small fraction of this update. Patch 1.5 also makes significant improvements and overhauls to gameplay, and adds new content. 

The next-gen console version of Cyberpunk 2077 offers visual quality improvements, a 60FPS performance mode with up to 4K resolution and a quality mode with more visual effects and ray-traced shadows switched on. The update is roughly 68GB for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles and is available to download right now.

Notably, CD Projekt Red went with RT Shadows for consoles, rather than some of the other effects available on PC, like global illumination and reflections. This makes sense as a performance-saving measure, as RT Shadows often has the lowest performance impact of all ray-traced lighting effects.

The real story here though is Patch 1.5's many gameplay improvements. During a live stream, developers explained that the in-game economy, combat and loot systems have been rebalanced. Vehicles in the game have also been revamped to make driving better, and the NPC AI in Night City has been vastly improved – gone are the days of shooting into a crowd and watching everyone duck down perfectly in-sync. The romance system in the game has been expanded, so you can have more frequent communication with your chosen partner, and the perk system has been completely overhauled.

Due to the perk system overhaul, all current saves will have their perk trees reset with this patch. Some old perks have been removed, others have been buffed or outright fixed, new perks have been added, so there is now a lot more to choose from. This also opens up the door for new playstyles – for instance, a throwing knife build is now possible.

Several DLCs have also been introduced with this patch as well, so you can now own multiple apartments around the city, each with its own theme and set of mini activities. You can now customise your character and change your look in each apartment too. A slew of new weapons and vehicles have also been added. Some minor additions have also been made for the PC version specifically, introducing a new in-game benchmark as well as support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR).

During the stream, the developers made it clear that there are plenty of improvements that haven't been talked about in detail yet. With players about to get their hands on the new version of the game, it is only a matter of time before new secrets are discovered.

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KitGuru Says: If you've been holding off on Cyberpunk 2077 up to this point, now seems like the best time to jump in. Many of the new improvements are things players have been hoping for since the first two major patches a full year ago. 

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