"Nintendo was aware of our ambition and it did take a lot of collaborative effort to make it happen" — CD Projekt Red's Artur Kepen on Cyberpunk 2077 for Switch 2, PS5 Pro support, Mac, cross save, and more
Last year, CD Projekt Red released Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition as a launch title for Nintendo Switch 2. Following that launch, a native macOS version was released. Earlier this year, Cyberpunk 2077 finally received PS5 Pro enhancements as well. To reflect on the last year of new platform expansions and updates, I had a chance to chat with Cyberpunk 2077's Senior Release Manager Artur Kepen to discuss bringing Cyberpunk 2077 to Switch 2 as a launch title, the macOS release, PS5 Pro support, and more. I have another Cyberpunk 2077 interview going up in the coming days that focuses on the game itself. Today's interview is about this past year of Cyberpunk 2077, cross save, expanding to new platforms, and more.
RPG Site: Cyberpunk 2077 recently won an Apple Design Award for pushing graphics and tech. It also remains one of the most impressive ports to a Nintendo platform ever as far as I'm concerned. Looking back, 2025 saw Cyberpunk 2077 arrive on Switch 2 as a launch title. Can you discuss how it was working on Nintendo Switch 2 internally?
Artur Kepen: First and foremost, thank you for the kind words! The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on Nintendo Switch 2 was one of the most challenging and ambitious projects we ever had the opportunity to work on, and it’s great to see the work of our teams is recognized in such an amazing way. The process was a first for us, as we have never participated in a platform launch before. This alone came with its own set of challenges that were new to us, and every platform comes with its own set of complexities.
Having said that, what we saw from the get-go was a great opportunity to tailor the Cyberpunk 2077 experience to the features of the Switch 2, and we had a lot of fun designing and prototyping functionalities such as motion controls. We were also impressed with the overall performance on the platform; adapting Cyberpunk 2077 to provide an experience on Switch 2 that matches our quality expectations was ambitious but, noticing the worldwide reactions, we think we struck the right balance!
Artur Kepen: First and foremost, thank you for the kind words! The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 on Nintendo Switch 2 was one of the most challenging and ambitious projects we ever had the opportunity to work on, and it’s great to see the work of our teams is recognized in such an amazing way. The process was a first for us, as we have never participated in a platform launch before. This alone came with its own set of challenges that were new to us, and every platform comes with its own set of complexities.
Having said that, what we saw from the get-go was a great opportunity to tailor the Cyberpunk 2077 experience to the features of the Switch 2, and we had a lot of fun designing and prototyping functionalities such as motion controls. We were also impressed with the overall performance on the platform; adapting Cyberpunk 2077 to provide an experience on Switch 2 that matches our quality expectations was ambitious but, noticing the worldwide reactions, we think we struck the right balance!
RPG Site: What I love about Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2 and even now PS5 Pro, is how you keep using the platform-specific features so well. Even if it is a niche feature, you do it. For Switch 2, how much production work went into ensuring Cyberpunk 2077 was ready for launch with the full game on cartridge, unlike almost every developer who used the cheaper Game Key Cards?
Artur Kepen: Platform-specific features keep us growing as a company, give us broad expertise, and overall, provide a better understanding of various technologies that we can implement. Every platform provides more learning opportunities, so it makes the most sense to us to try to implement whatever the platform has to offer. As a company, we firmly believe in providing the best possible experience, not only in the broad gameplay aspect, but also when it comes to giving players value.
Cyberpunk 2077, despite being a large game, was always going to be on the cartridge in its entirety, even if it took much more advanced dev work to make it happen. This also doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Dev work is one thing, but platform capabilities are another. Nintendo was aware of our ambition, and it did take a lot of collaborative effort to make it happen. Now, I can confidently say that our approach resonated with players, and the response exceeded our expectations. It made all of the dev and publishing effort that much more satisfying.
Artur Kepen: Platform-specific features keep us growing as a company, give us broad expertise, and overall, provide a better understanding of various technologies that we can implement. Every platform provides more learning opportunities, so it makes the most sense to us to try to implement whatever the platform has to offer. As a company, we firmly believe in providing the best possible experience, not only in the broad gameplay aspect, but also when it comes to giving players value.
Cyberpunk 2077, despite being a large game, was always going to be on the cartridge in its entirety, even if it took much more advanced dev work to make it happen. This also doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Dev work is one thing, but platform capabilities are another. Nintendo was aware of our ambition, and it did take a lot of collaborative effort to make it happen. Now, I can confidently say that our approach resonated with players, and the response exceeded our expectations. It made all of the dev and publishing effort that much more satisfying.
RPG Site: Was there any consideration for a Cyberpunk 2077 Switch 2 custom console or Pro Controller? We haven't seen a good official Switch 2 Pro Controller yet.
Artur Kepen: Apologies, but I cannot comment on this.
Artur Kepen: Apologies, but I cannot comment on this.
RPG Site: Moving back to the macOS version, CD Projekt Red has done a lot on Apple platforms over the years. How was it working with Apple on Cyberpunk 2077 for macOS?
Artur Kepen: While the framework for both macOS and iOS on Apple’s side remains partially the same, the approach to working on one of our mobile titles versus a full-fledged macOS experience was vastly different. Working with Apple on Cyberpunk 2077 for macOS was a symbiotic experience, especially as it was a native port — both of us learned from one another.
For us it was a learning opportunity as to how Apple handles developer support and which functionalities they set as priority, while we provided necessary feedback regarding the needs of a triple-A title to be properly supported on the platform. It’s this collaborative effort that allowed us to get the most out of macOS and Cyberpunk 2077 itself, with features like the “For This Mac” preset.
Artur Kepen: While the framework for both macOS and iOS on Apple’s side remains partially the same, the approach to working on one of our mobile titles versus a full-fledged macOS experience was vastly different. Working with Apple on Cyberpunk 2077 for macOS was a symbiotic experience, especially as it was a native port — both of us learned from one another.
For us it was a learning opportunity as to how Apple handles developer support and which functionalities they set as priority, while we provided necessary feedback regarding the needs of a triple-A title to be properly supported on the platform. It’s this collaborative effort that allowed us to get the most out of macOS and Cyberpunk 2077 itself, with features like the “For This Mac” preset.
RPG Site: A lot of PS5 players had been hoping for a PS5 Pro upgrade, but it seemed unlikely to happen. How long were you working on it?
Artur Kepen: I can’t share exact timelines, but it took time to iron out technicalities like the framerate target, quality improvements, and so on, as working on a title that’s already released (more than five years ago!) is always a challenge. We wanted to utilize the latest developer tools from Sony, as each new generation of technology adds many improvements. Combine that all together and development took some time, but judging from the player reception, it seems to be worth the wait!
Artur Kepen: I can’t share exact timelines, but it took time to iron out technicalities like the framerate target, quality improvements, and so on, as working on a title that’s already released (more than five years ago!) is always a challenge. We wanted to utilize the latest developer tools from Sony, as each new generation of technology adds many improvements. Combine that all together and development took some time, but judging from the player reception, it seems to be worth the wait!
RPG Site: Cyberpunk 2077 has quite a high internal resolution that gets upscaled. Are there any plans to use the upgraded PSSR's strengths to offer a mode that pushes graphics even more, from a lower internal resolution or is the team done with the PS5 Pro patching for now?
Artur Kepen: That I unfortunately cannot comment on.
Artur Kepen: That I unfortunately cannot comment on.
RPG Site: The Witcher 3 getting cross save for Switch was fantastic, and was the push that got me to finish it. I still have it installed on everything just to revisit my save and enjoy exploring the world. How much work went into making Cyberpunk 2077 cross save working?
Artur Kepen: I’m very glad you like it! Cross-saves are quite imperative for both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077. The freedom to do exactly what you described, where your save can freely travel between platforms, was always the intent behind implementing this feature. There’s always quite a bit of work to be done regarding cross-saves, especially because every platform has a different set of expectations and rules that govern said functionality, and those have to be navigated with respect towards the first-party. This, in turn, takes development time to properly implement on our end, especially when you throw in a cross-save functionality across different generations of hardware.
Artur Kepen: I’m very glad you like it! Cross-saves are quite imperative for both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077. The freedom to do exactly what you described, where your save can freely travel between platforms, was always the intent behind implementing this feature. There’s always quite a bit of work to be done regarding cross-saves, especially because every platform has a different set of expectations and rules that govern said functionality, and those have to be navigated with respect towards the first-party. This, in turn, takes development time to properly implement on our end, especially when you throw in a cross-save functionality across different generations of hardware.
RPG Site: How do you account for players who have modded save files or play with mods on PC and then sync progress over the closed console platforms?
Artur Kepen: We simply disallow modded save files to roam from PC to other platforms, which is not only the industry standard for games that support cross-saves, but also a proper adhesion to first-party platform rules.
Artur Kepen: We simply disallow modded save files to roam from PC to other platforms, which is not only the industry standard for games that support cross-saves, but also a proper adhesion to first-party platform rules.
RPG Site: How do you like your coffee? Go into as much detail as possible.
Artur Kepen: Oh man, it really depends on the day. Sometimes I need a fresh pot of coffee, so I go through the usual regimen: get either properly pre-ground coffee from a reliable source or, if you have it, tune your burr grinder to the appropriate level and get your fresh beans the way you like. Then, I take my Hario V60 with non-bleached paper filters, place the filter in the dripper and soak it lightly. Then, for about 400ml of water (two cups) I use a lighter coffee ratio, to keep the caffeine low, so about 22grams of ground coffee. The first water pour has to be slow, up to a certain filter limit. Let it drip completely and wait about 30 seconds to one minute to let the coffee extract within. Then, keep on pouring the 90 to 95 degrees water until the desired volume is reached.
I’m a huge sucker for iced coffee, so I like mine on ice most of the time, non sweetened but with whole milk (above 3.5% fat). But sometimes I just need a regular, plain Jane latte on a double shot of espresso, for which I have my manual De’Longhi espresso machine with a portafilter (I am not a fan of automatic espresso machines).
Artur Kepen: Oh man, it really depends on the day. Sometimes I need a fresh pot of coffee, so I go through the usual regimen: get either properly pre-ground coffee from a reliable source or, if you have it, tune your burr grinder to the appropriate level and get your fresh beans the way you like. Then, I take my Hario V60 with non-bleached paper filters, place the filter in the dripper and soak it lightly. Then, for about 400ml of water (two cups) I use a lighter coffee ratio, to keep the caffeine low, so about 22grams of ground coffee. The first water pour has to be slow, up to a certain filter limit. Let it drip completely and wait about 30 seconds to one minute to let the coffee extract within. Then, keep on pouring the 90 to 95 degrees water until the desired volume is reached.
I’m a huge sucker for iced coffee, so I like mine on ice most of the time, non sweetened but with whole milk (above 3.5% fat). But sometimes I just need a regular, plain Jane latte on a double shot of espresso, for which I have my manual De’Longhi espresso machine with a portafilter (I am not a fan of automatic espresso machines).