Cyberpunk 2077 saves that go beyond 8MB in size can be irreversibly corrupt, CD Projekt RED warns.
Cyberpunk 2077 has a particularly nefarious glitch that can make your save games unusable, and it's centered around file size. CDPR says if your saves get too big that they can be corrupted and inaccessible. Right now it appears the save size limit is 8MB and anything that exceeds that will be corrupted. Multiple gamers on the CDPR forums have been affected by the glitch.
Item count seems to affect file size the most. The more items you have/craft/find, the bigger your save becomes. Right now gamers are encouraged to avoid breaking down too much gear and/or crafting a lot of items. Also don't use the duplication glitch because this can skyrocket your file size in no time.
The weird thing is your save file doesn't shrink if you get rid of items. Once your save is a certain size, it'll stay that way even if you get rid of the inventory.
CD Projekt RED is aware of the issue and delivered the following response to the error, and says the file size MIGHT be boosted in new patches:
"Unfortunately the save is damaged and can't be recovered. Please use an older save file to continue playing and try to keep a lower amount of items and crafting materials. If you have used the item duplication glitch, please load a save file not affected by it. The save file size limit might be increased in one of the future patches, but the corrupted files will remain that way."
There's nothing worse than dumping 100 hours into a game only to have your saves corrupted or deleted. Hopefully CDPR is able to fix this soon...but I have a feeling this particular glitch is on the back burner to the dozens of other bugs and issues that've surfaced.