Is Cyberpunk 2077 Still Worth Playing in 2026?
Cyberpunk 2077 crossed 40 million copies sold as of July 2026, six years after a launch that nearly buried the game's reputation. CD Projekt Red has now shifted its main development resources toward the sequel, Project Orion, and confirmed that major content updates and DLC for the original game have officially wrapped up.
That leaves a lot of players wondering if it's still worth jumping into Night City now that the studio has moved on. The game still gets technical and quality-of-life support, but the era of big story expansions like Phantom Liberty is over.
In this article, we'll explore whether Cyberpunk 2077 still holds up in 2026, what's changed since its comeback, and who should actually pick it up at this point.
Also Read: Best Budget-Friendly Ways to Buy Cyberpunk 2077 for PC
Article Summary
Cyberpunk 2077 launched broken in December 2020, especially on consoles, and even got pulled from the PlayStation Store
Update 2.0 in September 2023 overhauled the skill system, police AI, and car combat, fixing most of the game's core problems
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners gave the game a sales boost back in 2022, a year before the 2.0 update landed
Phantom Liberty, released alongside Update 2.0, added Dogtown, a new ending, and the game's strongest story content
The game has sold over 40 million copies as of July 2026, tying it with Sonic the Hedgehog, Payday 2, and Hogwarts Legacy for 20th best-selling game of all time
Major updates and DLC have officially ended, with CD Projekt Red now focused on the sequel, Project Orion
The final version of Cyberpunk 2077 is polished and complete, making 2026 a strong time to play it for the first time or come back to it
The Disastrous Launch
Cyberpunk 2077 released on December 10, 2020, after years of hype and multiple delays, and even the PC version launched buggy and rough around the edges, though nowhere near as broken as what console players got. The console versions did not. Players on PS4 and Xbox One ran into constant crashes, broken quests, and frame rates that dropped below what most people consider playable, and the game became a symbol of everything wrong with rushing a release date.
The backlash was severe enough that Sony pulled Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store entirely in December 2020, something that had never happened to a major AAA title before. Microsoft kept the game available but added a warning about performance issues before purchase. CD Projekt Red offered refunds directly through their site for anyone who bought the game and could not get platform refunds, and the studio's stock dropped sharply in the weeks that followed.
Beyond the technical mess, players also called out missing features that had been shown or promised during marketing, including deeper NPC behavior and more meaningful lifepath choices. The gap between what was pitched and what shipped fueled a class action lawsuit against CD Projekt Red, which the studio eventually settled. It took years of patches, and one very large update, to change the conversation around the game.
How Update 2.0 Saved the Game
CD Projekt Red spent the better part of two years pushing patches to fix Cyberpunk 2077's worst problems, but the real turning point came with Update 2.0 in September 2023. The update reworked the entire perk and skill system, overhauled police behavior and car combat, and fixed a long list of the bugs that had plagued the game since launch. It changed how the game played at a fundamental level rather than just patching over cracks.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the Netflix anime, had already given the game a sales boost back in September 2022, introducing a wave of new players to the game a year before Update 2.0 even released. When 2.0 landed alongside the Phantom Liberty expansion in September 2023, it brought its own resurgence, and the game started climbing back up the Steam charts years after launch, something that almost never happens for a AAA title with this kind of launch history.
By July 2026, Cyberpunk 2077 had sold over 40 million copies worldwide, tying it with Sonic the Hedgehog, Payday 2, and Hogwarts Legacy as the 20th best-selling video game of all time. That puts it well past most AAA releases from the same year, including ones that launched without any of Cyberpunk's early baggage. CD Projekt Red has openly called it one of the biggest comeback stories in gaming, and the sales numbers back that up.
Also Read: Games Like Cyberpunk 2077: The Ultimate List for Sci-Fi Fans
Phantom Liberty, the Best Expansion the Game Got
Phantom Liberty released on September 26, 2023, alongside Update 2.0, and it remains the only major expansion Cyberpunk 2077 ever received. It adds Dogtown, a walled-off district controlled by a rogue Militech faction, and drops V into a spy thriller involving the NUSA president, a crashed space shuttle, and a network of double agents.
Idris Elba plays Solomon Reed, a former FIA agent who becomes one of the strongest written characters in the entire game. His arc runs through nearly the whole expansion and gives the story a tighter, more focused feel than the sprawling main campaign, closer to a spy movie than an open world RPG side quest.
The expansion also introduces a new ending exclusive to players who own it, along with new gear, vehicles, and a relic-based skill tree that changes how V's abilities work for the rest of the playthrough. Combined with the mechanical overhaul from Update 2.0, Phantom Liberty is widely considered the moment Cyberpunk 2077 became the game CD Projekt Red originally promised.
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Is Cyberpunk 2077 Still Worth Playing?
Yes, and for most players the answer isn't close. Six years removed from launch, Cyberpunk 2077 is a different game than the one that shipped in 2020, with a reworked skill system, fixed police AI, better car combat, and one of the strongest expansions released for any RPG in the last decade.
The main hesitation now isn't quality, it's scope. Major content updates and DLC have officially ended, so anyone hoping for a second expansion or a steady stream of new story content will be disappointed. What you're getting is a complete, polished package rather than a live service game that keeps growing.
For players who missed it at launch or bounced off it years ago, this is the version worth returning to. The story, the world, and Night City itself hold up, and Phantom Liberty gives the campaign a finale that the base game never had on its own.
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FAQs About Whether Cyberpunk 2077 Is Still Worth Playing
Q: Is Cyberpunk 2077 still buggy?
A: No, not in any way close to launch. Update 2.0 fixed most of the game's major issues, including police behavior, driving physics, and the skill system, and years of smaller patches since then have cleaned up the rest. Occasional minor bugs still pop up, but nothing close to the broken state the game launched in.
Q: Do I need to play Phantom Liberty to enjoy Cyberpunk 2077?
A: No, but it's worth playing if you can. The base game is fully playable and complete on its own, but Phantom Liberty adds the strongest story content in the game and an exclusive ending, so skipping it means missing what most players consider the best part of the experience.
Q: Will Cyberpunk 2077 get more DLC or expansions?
A: No. CD Projekt Red has confirmed that major content updates and DLC have ended for the base game, with development resources shifted to the sequel, Project Orion. Cyberpunk 2077 still receives occasional quality-of-life and technical support, but no new story content is planned.
Q: Is Cyberpunk 2077 worth buying at full price?
A: It depends on how much content you want. The Ultimate Edition, which bundles the base game and Phantom Liberty, is generally the better value over buying them separately, and prices on the game drop frequently outside of full retail, so there's rarely a strong reason to pay full price either way.
Q: How long does it take to finish Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty?
A: The main story takes around 20 to 25 hours, but most players spend closer to 60 to 100 hours once side content and Phantom Liberty's Dogtown storyline are included. Completionists chasing every ending and gig can push past 100 hours easily.
Final Words
Cyberpunk 2077 went from one of gaming's most infamous launches to one of its most complete comeback stories. Update 2.0 fixed the core gameplay, and Phantom Liberty gave the story the ending it deserved. With major updates now finished, this is the game in its final, most polished form, and that makes 2026 a good time to experience it.
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“ Mustafa Atteya has been writing about gaming and esports since 2023, specializing in competitive game content and player improvement guides. At 25, he brings both hands-on gaming experience and professional SEO writing expertise to the GameBoost team.”
