Despite mass pandemics, the video game cycle doesn’t wait. The continuation of the “Assassin’s Creed” series, “AC Valhalla,” launched in November alongside the Xbox version of “No Man’s Sky,” a failed game at launch that patched its way into success.

However, quite possibly the most anticipated game of 2020 is “Cyberpunk 2077.” After months of delays it was released to console players seven days early. According to various sources, including IGN, physical copies of the $200 collectors edition were released seven days early.

Though no new information will be released between now and Dec. 10 as CD Projekt Red has threatened DMCA takedowns for any streamers sharing previously unknown content. For that reason, the vast majority of consumers only have official footage to go off of to form their opinions and predictions of the game. 

Ian Culver, an LHS senior that enjoys video games, has some predictions about “Cyberpunk 2077.”

“My inclination is that it’s gonna be more Western. It’s going to be far more based around skills. Just due to the fact that it’s based off of a pen and paper Western RPG,” his opinion is formed from his own past experiences with RPGs, mainly “Fallout” and “Skyrim,” though he has played and led tabletop games such as Cyberpunk 2020 and Dungeons and Dragons. 

LHS senior Elias Herman compared “Cyberpunk 2077” to the “Fallout” series, another RPG originally based off of a tabletop RPG, in this case GURPS, or the Generic Universal RolePlaying System.

“I do have enough experience with games that have been pushed back a lot,” said Herman, “And with a lot of like games and a lot of hype for popularity, like Fallout 76 was probably one of the most hyped games in recent years because it was a sequel to the past, all games. It was awesome story games. And so everyone’s really excited, right, and I preordered. Biggest mistake of my life was preordering.” 

Comparing his excitement for and subsequent disappointment with “Fallout 76” with the build-up for “Cyberpunk 2077” is foreboding, but Herman does not expect disaster.

“There’s not a lot of other games that are like it in this genre and it’s politically, sort of, like, dystopian. I think the closest thing that can actually get to it is the Outer Worlds but it’s just not as, like, drama serious as I think Cyberpunk is going to be. But I think in some ways, Cyberpunk is going to be like a futuristic GTA 5. And that’s what it’s gonna be known for, it’s gonna be like GTA 5 plus 100 years.”

But no matter the prediction, it can’t quite be known what the game is going to be like until it finally releases.

While the initial release date was supposed to be April 16, the game was delayed due to the global pandemic and needing to move their employees to a work at home environment. As a result, the release date for the game was bumped back to Sept. 17.

As the date drew near the company released another delay, blaming it on their ambition they stated that, “A huge world means a huge number of things to iron out,” and that they would not delay the game again. This resulted in a new release date of Nov. 19.

Despite the promise, just before launch day the game was pushed back to a final date of Dec. 10. However some collector edition copies were shipped early on the Dec. 3, additionally it would seem that no more last-minute delays will be announced with the game appearing to be ready to ship on the 10th.

The game promises a huge open world, with 175 hours of gameplay for an industry standard $60 price tag across all forms, excluding the over $200 collectors edition, that results in an impressive play time of about 2.92 hours of gameplay per dollar. 

However this is only one of many claims ranging from having a completely customizable character that is not limited to the traditional male female dichotomy with some small tweaks to the character’s features being possible.

From trailers a general story is possible. You play as a mercenary named V, your job is to attempt a robbery from one of the setting’s mega corporations, while carefully dancing around the law, gangs, and the corporation. 

However there are many other things included ranging from numerous cars to collect, to a myriad of skills and unique things your character can do. But it is important to keep in mind that the game is rated M with tags for a number of adult topics.

With all this considered some people might expect a multiplayer open world game like “Fallout 76,” which was widely panned by players. 

In reality it’s a return to the single player experience, and proof that players are still interested in a self contained world, and that not every major game needs to launch with some form of multiplayer.

The game does appear to be ready to launch for PC, Xbox, and Playstation on Dec. 10.