Nearly six years after its initial release, Cyberpunk 2077 continues to prove itself as one of the most popular titles in the modern video game industry. CD Projekt Red recently announced that the game's total sales had surpassed 40 million copies, but just days later another impressive achievement came along that confirms the title's dynamic comeback.
The open-world RPG has recorded more than 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, marking its highest performance on the platform since 2023. It's a milestone few would have expected when the game was at the center of criticism in its first few months of release.
Record number of players almost five years after launch
According to Radek Grabowski, PR Director at CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 reached 101,558 concurrent players on Steam on July 5, recording its best performance in about two years.
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He called the achievement “incredible,” publicly thanking the gaming community for their continued support of the game. This number is even more significant considering it’s a title that was released in 2020 and not a new commercial release.
Maintaining such high interest after so many years is an indication that Cyberpunk 2077 has managed to completely transform its image among players.
From one of the biggest failures to an impressive comeback
Cyberpunk 2077's journey hasn't been easy. When it was released in December 2020, the game was met with huge expectations, coming from the development team behind the hugely successful The Witcher 3.
However, the reality turned out to be different. The versions for previous-generation consoles suffered from serious technical issues, poor performance, and numerous bugs, leading to unprecedented reactions from players. The situation was so serious that Sony temporarily removed the game from the PlayStation Store, while CD Projekt Red was forced to offer refunds and commit to long-term support.
The image of that period is still considered today one of the biggest crises that a major videogame creator has faced.
Continuous updates changed the data
Rather than abandon the project, CD Projekt Red chose to invest significant resources into improving Cyberpunk 2077.Over the next few years, dozens of updates that fixed thousands of technical issues, improved characters, upgraded the game's police, and redesigned key character progression mechanisms.
The turning point came with version 2.0, which revamped a significant part of the gameplay and offered a much more complete experience to players.
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This upgrade was accompanied by significant technological improvements, such as better utilization of modern processors, improved ray tracing and support for the latest graphics technologies, further enhancing the experience on PC and next-generation consoles.
Phantom Liberty gave new impetus
The Phantom Liberty expansion also played a crucial role in the game's rebirth , adding a brand new story, new areas of Night City, additional missions, and significant changes to the combat mechanics.
The expansion received highly positive reviews from both the international media and the gaming community, helping to restore the title's reputation. Many analysts described Phantom Liberty as the point at which Cyberpunk 2077 finally managed to fulfill the promises it had made before its release.
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The fact that a game from 2020 still attracts over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam proves that the right decisions, continued support, and trust in the community can completely change the course of a title. Cyberpunk 2077 went from utter disappointment to one of the most impressive comeback stories the video game industry has ever seen.
