Cyberpunk 2077 has undergone a pretty significant transformation since its dumpster fire launch in 2020. CD Projekt Red’s city-sprawling RPG got a next-gen update, a 2.0 patch that fundamentally alters how you build a character and fight through the streets of Night City, and to top it all off, the team released a stellar expansion in 2023’s Phantom Liberty. If you were scared off by the glitches and crashes of 2020, now’s a perfect time to give the game a second chance, as CD Projekt Red is offering a free trial of the game this weekend.
The five-hour trial is available now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and will last until Sunday, March 31, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. CD Projekt Red says it isn’t offering this trial for PC players due to “technical reasons.” If you like what you play and choose to buy the full game, any progress you make during the trial will carry over. However, the trial doesn’t include the Phantom Liberty expansion. This makes sense because it would take you at least a couple of hours to reach the point where the expansion is playable anyway.
Having been there for every stage of Cyberpunk 2077’s rollercoaster ride of bad launches and game-changing updates, I can recommend the game as it exists today without a ton of caveats. Sure, I still think Cyberpunk 2077’s cynical worldview and weird stereotyping of some characters and communities is worth examining, but when CD Projekt Red’s team is at its best, it puts out some incredibly memorable characters and storylines, and this game certainly reflects that.
Big changes like the 2.0 update giving you new skill trees and build customizations make getting to those moments all the better, and while there are still some inherent flaws, it’s the best Cyberpunk 2077 has ever been. So, if you’ve got nothing going on this weekend, head over to the PlayStation or Xbox store and download the free trial.
