Cyberpunk 2077-new

Cyberpunk 2077 – E3 2018 vs 2020 Retail comparison video shows major lighting improvements


In case you didn’t know, we were among the first that criticized The Witcher 3 for its downgraded graphics. While the final product looked great, it was nowhere close to what CD Projekt RED was showing in its pre-release trailers. And, from the looks of it, the company has learned its lesson. With only one exception, Cyberpunk 2077 looks significantly better than its E3 2018 demo.

YouTube’s ‘Cycu1’ has shared the following comparison video between the E3 2018 build and the 2020 retail version of Cyberpunk 2077. And, as you will immediately notice, the lighting system has been greatly improved. Seriously, in some cases the difference is huge.

Take for example the “inside-the-car” scene at 2:44. Compared to the final version, the E3 2018 demo looks flat and so old-gen-ish. The final build also appears to have more shadows, as well as better global illumination effects.

The only “downgrade” (if you can call it that) is the amount of the NPCs on screen. CD Projekt RED has reduced the number of NPCs players can encounter in the open-world area. However, and apart from this, everything looks significantly better in the final version.

It’s also worth noting that CD Projekt RED aims to fix some of the game’s visual issues. For instance, its latest update reduces vehicle pop-ins.

Our PC Performance Analysis for Cyberpunk 2077 will go live later this weekend. Until then, you can read our “Ray Tracing & DLSS 2.0 Benchmarks” article.

Stay tuned for more!

Cyberpunk 2077 2018 Demo vs Retail RTX 3080 4K Graphics Comparison