Cyberpunk 2077 leaked gameplay reveals wild character creation options

Copies of Cyberpunk 2077 are out in the wild as the game gets shipped to retailers, and gameplay has been leaked ahead of the game's December 10 release as a result. About 20 minutes of PS4 gameplay from the start of Cyberpunk 2077 was leaked in a stream over the weekend. While the leakers narrate over most of the video which itself doesn't feature much action or substance, it does seemingly confirm that the game will make its December 10 release date and won't be delayed again. And it does walk through some of the truly varied character customization options available in the game.

It appears that one person was able to snag an early PlayStation 4 copy of the game and decided to stream it from his console with friends. The stream was rather short and was taken down quickly after being posted, but it does give a brief if uneventful glimpse at some of the game's earliest moments. These include the starting scenario from one of the Lifepaths — or character backgrounds — that players can start the game with.

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While most gameplay videos have focused on Night City, this leaked footage shows the players' starting minutes with the Nomad Lifepath in the Badlands. Still, the leakers take their sweet time over the course of the video, so we don't seem much more than a brief conversation and a bit of driving.

Cyberpunk 2077 looks gorgeous and seems to run well, even on PS4. Even though most players will spend their time inside of Night City, it also seems like a lot of time and effort was put into the Mad Max-like Badlands around Night City, so players who start there won't feel like they are missing out. The leak really isn't that eventful, so don't worry about seeking it out even though it's hard to find.

Seemingly because of this particular leak, CD Projekt Red released a nearly 7-minute long video of the game's early gameplay sequences, including those covered in the leaked stream. A narrator recounts the three Lifepaths of Nomad, Streetkid, and Corpo. And we get a small sneak peak at the wildly varied character creation options that let you do just about anything.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about these leaks is that it makes it seem doubtful that Cyberpunk 2077 will get delayed again despite rumors from earlier in November. After this long wait, the end is finally in sight.

Cyberpunk 2077 was supposed to be released in April, but it was delayed three times over the course of this crazy year and finally got a December 10 release date after CD Projekt Red mandated that employees work mandatory 6-day work weeks until it's out. In official statements, the company has pointed to ensuring that the game runs well across all platforms as the main reason for the delay.

"The biggest challenge for us right now is shipping the game on current-gen, next-gen, and PC at the same time, which requires us to prepare and test 9 versions ... while working from home," October's delay statement reads. "We need to make sure everything well and every mission runs smoothly."

For playing on a PS4 without the day one patch, Cyberpunk 2077 appears to run pretty well outside of one visual glitch towards the start of the game. Honestly, it will probably be one of the best looking games of the last generation. Of course, these early hours are typically some of the most optimized in games, and the leakers never do anything that's too nation heavy, but the game seems to be in a good state as it was shipped out to retailers.

While new roadblocks could present themselves and cause further delays, Cyberpunk 2077 looks promising ahead of launch. Even if this leak wasn't all that great or on par with The Last of Us Part 2's leaks, it indicates that we may not have to wait that long before experiencing the opening of the game for ourselves.

Cyberpunk 2077 will be released on December 10, 2020.