Ninety frames per second on a console version of Cyberpunk 2077. That's the number that matters today, and it's the one CD Projekt Red buried near the bottom of their feature list when it deserves to be the headline. According to the PlayStation Blog, the PS5 Pro update is live now, and Performance mode on a VRR display will push the game to up to 90fps while maintaining what CDPR describes as "high image fidelity." For a game that launched on base PS4 in 2020 barely holding 30fps, that's a long road traveled.
The update ships with three distinct graphics modes, and the differences between them are meaningful enough that which one you pick will fundamentally change how Night City feels. Ray Tracing Pro is the showcase mode: every ray tracing enhancement turned on simultaneously, including reflections, ambient occlusion, skylight, shadows, and emissive lighting. It targets 40fps on VRR displays or 30fps without. That's not a mode for people who care about fluidity; it's for people who want to sit in a rain-soaked alley in Watson and actually feel the neon bounce off the puddles. The middle option, simply called Ray Tracing, targets a locked 60fps with select ray tracing features active. That's probably the sweet spot for most players.
The ray tracing improvements themselves are worth understanding properly. CDPR's VP and global art director Kuba Knapik confirmed the team implemented BVH8, or 8-way Bounding Volume Hierarchy, support specifically for this update. In practical terms, BVH8 allows the engine to trace more rays simultaneously to calculate lighting, shadows, and reflections. It won't match the Ray Tracing Overdrive mode available on PC, but it should land somewhere close to the Ray Tracing Ultra preset. For console players who've never had access to proper ray tracing in this game, that's a substantial jump.
The other major piece of the update is PSSR 2 support. Sony's PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution upscaling technology received a significant upgrade recently, and Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the first games to ship with native PSSR 2 integration rather than being patched up from the original version. The upscaler works on a per-pixel basis using AI to reconstruct detail, which is what allows the Performance mode to hit 90fps without the image falling apart. How well it holds up in fast motion through Night City's busiest streets is something we'll know more about once players get hands-on time today.
The Update CDPR Said Wasn't Coming
It's worth remembering that this update almost didn't exist. After the PS5 Pro launched in late 2024, CDPR publicly stated it had no plans to support the hardware. That position has clearly changed, and the timing isn't coincidental: Cyberpunk 2077 is currently available in the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Games Catalog, meaning every PS5 Pro owner with an active subscription can download and play the enhanced version at no extra cost today. A free entry point plus a headline-grabbing technical upgrade is a smart way to pull new players into a five-year-old game.
To be fair, CDPR has earned some goodwill back with how they've handled Cyberpunk 2077 post-launch. The game is genuinely excellent now, Phantom Liberty was one of the best pieces of DLC released in years, and updates like this show the studio still cares about the experience even with no new paid content planned. The PS5 Pro update is free for existing owners too, which is how it should be. Credit where it's due.
If you want to grab the game digitally, it's available on Steam and GOG. The PS5 Pro update is live now.
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