Cyberpunk 2077 preloads are live, with an easter egg

Cyberpunk 2077 key art
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Preloads for Cyberpunk 2077 are now live on GOG.com, with Steam and the Epic Games Store to follow at 8 am PT/11 am ET/5pm CET today. The release date is December 10 in CD Projekt's home of Poland but, because it's a simultaneous worldwide release on PC and Stadia, some will technically get it a little early. Also, the game is nine whole pence cheaper on GOG than Steam and Epic if you're in the UK.

Depending on your timezone, Cyberpunk 2077 will unlock at: 4 pm PT on December 9 / 7 pm ET on December 9 / 12 am GMT on December 10 / 8 am CST on December 10. CD Projekt has pushed Cyberpunk 2077 hard on GOG, for the blindingly simple reason that it owns store and therefore keeps 100 percent of the sale price. Regardless of what platform players purchase the game on, even linking it to GOG nets some in-game rewards.

The download comes with an executable file, which got people excited that perhaps CD Projekt Red had somehow screwed-up and released the most-hyped game of recent years early. Trying to play the game this way results in the following screen, as noticed by redditor JMendo02.

Tease screen for preloads of Cyberpunk 2077.

(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

OK, that's pretty funny. The sense of anticipation is real, and if you want an idea of what to expect here's what we thought after 15 hours in the game. With just a few days to go, time to start preparing.

Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Latest in RPG
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Sphene applauds in Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story.
I'm not yelling 'we're so back!' yet, but Final Fantasy 14's patch 7.2 story could be the first sign the MMO is returning to what made it so critically-acclaimed
Latest in News
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event