Cyberpunk 2077has been delayed by CD Projekt Red for the third time, and is now scheduled for release on July 04, 2025. This is only a 21-day delay, the shortest delay so far, though it has still been frustrating news for many fans who took time off work following CD Projekt Red’s promise that the game would not be delayed beyond November 19.
One major side effect of the new delay toCyberpunk 2077is that the game will no longer be eligible for The Game Awards 2020, losing its chance at The Game Award for Game of the Year until a full year after its current projected release. With so much hype aroundCyberpunkand the fact that CD Projekt Red’s last major game,The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, won the award in 2015, hopes were high for the new RPG at 2020’s awards. The delay now increases the chances of some of the other big titles taking the title of Game of the Year.
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons
The winners of theThe Game Awards 2020will be released on December 10, the same day thatCyberpunk 2077will release according to CD Projekt Red’s latest update. This has opened the door for a few major titles which have defined one of the strangest years in gaming.
Animal Crossing: New Horizonsreleased on March 20, and is considered by many gamers to be one of the defining releases of the early pandemic, at least for those who owned a Nintendo Switch. The game resulted in a fantastic April-June quarter for Nintendo. In that quarter aloneAnimal Crossing: New Horizonssold over 10 million copies, bringing its total up to more than 22 million units sold by the end of June. This makes it the best-selling title released in the series and one of the Switch’s best-selling games overall.
The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us 2was a huge triple-A release, and is certainly a top contender for Game of the Year based on the reception of its story alone. Naughty Dog’s long-awaited sequel sold four million copies in its opening weekend. This madeThe Last of Us 2the fasted selling exclusive for the console, thoughAnimal Crossingand 2019’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfarestill sold more copies overall. Other aspects of the game were criticized, however, particularly its third act.
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Spider-Man and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
There are a few other potentially huge contenders for Game of The Year that could have a better shot now thatCyberpunk 2077is delayed.Spider-Man: Miles Moraleslaunches on November 12. The previousSpider-Mangame for PS4 broke sales records for Sony, selling 3.3 million copies over its first three days to narrowly beat 2018’sGod of Warfor the fastest-selling first-party PS4 game at the time.
The game will help launch the PS5, and with thePS5 projected to be the best-selling consoleof the holiday season, it’s possibleMiles Moralescould break records once again. Sales are far from everything, however, andSpider-Man: Miles Moralesis under a lot of pressure to stick the landing among critics if it wants a shot at Game of the Year.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallacould also be in for a shot, withOdysseynominated for 2018’s award before losing out toGod of War. As withMiles Morales, however, this will greatly depend on the games’ reception at launch despite good projected sales. WithCyberpunkout of the running until The Game Awards 2021, this year’s awards could be some of the most hotly contented and most surprising since the award was first presented in 2014.
Cyberpunk 2077launches December 10 for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions also in development.
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