Night City is packed again, and the numbers prove it. CD PROJEKT RED has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 reached a peak of 187,000 concurrent players on Steam over the weekend, the game's highest concurrent player count since the launch of its Phantom Liberty expansion.
The studio shared the milestone through its investor relations account, calling Night City "the City of Dreams" and saying the team is "excited to see so many players back in Night City!"
What Is Bringing Players Back
CD PROJEKT RED did not point to a single reason for the surge, but the timing lines up with two big moments for the franchise. Last week, the studio released the free Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 Update (2.5), which adds cyberware customization and a new dual-wielding playstyle. That update arrived just days after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 premiered on Netflix.
The new season of the anime, produced by Studio TRIGGER, brings in factions straight out of the game, including Maelstrom and Arasaka. CD PROJEKT RED has leaned into the connection, with the official accounts showing how the anime recreates locations from Cyberpunk 2077.
There is precedent for this kind of bump. When the first season of Edgerunners launched in 2022, it helped bring a wave of players back to the game, and the studio added content inspired by the show. Hitting a new post-Phantom Liberty high suggests the second season and its matching update are having a similar effect.
More Reasons to Jump In
CD PROJEKT RED is keeping the momentum going with more community activity around the game. The studio is running Twitch Drops that unlock four new TWINTONE skins for the Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech for viewers who tune in to Cyberpunk 2077 streams, with an extra reward for those who subscribe to their favorite Cyberpunk 2077 streamer.
The official Cyberpunk 2077 account has also launched the first episode of a special Cyberpunk Pen and Paper session, with franchise creator Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games running the game. On top of that, the studio has scheduled an Edgerunners edition of its REDstreams broadcast for October 27 at 5 PM CET, looking back at the new season with showrunner Bartosz Sztybor.
Still Going Strong Years Later
It is a remarkable run for a game that launched in such rough shape in December 2020. Years of free updates, the Update 2.0 overhaul and the Phantom Liberty expansion turned the game's reputation around, and it is still getting major content as CD PROJEKT RED works on the sequel.
The 187,000 figure only covers Steam, so it does not include players on PlayStation, Xbox, GOG or other platforms. The full number of people back in Night City is likely higher, although CD PROJEKT RED has not shared figures for the other storefronts or consoles.
For players who have been away, the new update is a good excuse to start a fresh run. Dual-wielding is something V has never been able to do before, and the expanded cyberware customization should open up new build options on top of the reworked skill trees from Update 2.0.
It is also a good sign for the franchise ahead of its next steps. The Cyberpunk 2077 movie is in development and will tell an original story, while the sequel is in the works at CD PROJEKT RED. Keeping the original game this active years after launch helps keep Night City in front of players while they wait.
Have you jumped back into Cyberpunk 2077 after watching Edgerunners 2, or are you waiting for the sequel?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.