Summary
Cyberpunk 2077had all the carriages of the hype train behind it before it’s late 2020 release, but the launch of the game was anything but smooth. Thankfully, after four years of diligent work, CD Projekt Red has managed to save both its reputation and its biggest game yet, making the current build ofCyberpunkthe amazing experience it was always marketed to be. Still, this game isn’t what put the Polish studio on the map, and it seems to be returning to its roots going forward.
A massive amount of work was done onCyberpunk 2077after its release totransform its glitchy, incomplete launch build into something truly special, reworking core mechanics and adding amassive expansion starring Idris Elba, of all people. Despite this, it seems CDPR’s work onCyberpunkis close to being done. There won’t be a follow-up expansion toPhantom Libertyand there won’t be any major updates coming either, with most of the development team resources forCyberpunkbeing moved elsewhere.
All Important Cyberpunk 2077 Choices That Matter Later
In a game as long and complex as Cyberpunk 2077, it can be frustrating to face unexpected consequences hours after making a small decision.
CDPR Update Means No More Updates For Cyberpunk 2077
But There Will Be Another Witcher In The Future
Arecent update from CD Projekt Red has revealed that most of its dev team resources have been reallocated to the upcomingWitcherprojectthat begins production later this year. Game Director for theCyberpunk 2077sequel, Pawel Sasko, recently touched on development on aFlow Castpodcast. When asked about the status of the upcomingCyberpunksequel, Sasko reiterated that most of the projects are in the “early stages,” and the upcomingWitchersaga “will enter the production this year,” meaning that hope for a newCyberpunkgame is still a very far way off.
With CDPR putting most of its resources into this new project, it will mean thatCyberpunkwon’t be getting any new content. This is in spite of the massive success ofPhantom Liberty, but this shouldn’t be too surprising since the game has been out for three and a half years, and the Poland-based studio has a lot of projects under its belt.
Since the newWitchertitle is only beginning productionlater this year (currently titledProject Polaris),fans of CD Projekt Red’s works will likely have to wait years for something new. This isn’t the only project currently in the works by the Polish studio, since a remake ofThe Witcher 1is also planned, butProject Polarisis the most advanced of all these projects and is likely the only one that is close to finishing pre-production. It makes sense to put most of the studio’s resources into this game.
The unfamiliar medallion used as a promotional image forProject Polarishas led many to think that the game will focus on theSchool of the Lynx Witchers.
Although there isn’t a defined release date forProject Polaris, it is safe to assume that it will take a few years, especially becausethis will be the first title by CD Projekt Red after its switch to using Unreal Engine 5. The team will have to work out the engine while trying to make the game, which can be a time-consuming process. On top of this, it could be entering new territory for theWitcherfranchise as a whole, likely leaving behind Geralt as the protagonist, although CDPR has remained quiet on finer details thus far.
CDPR Isn’t Done With The Cyberpunk Franchise, Only 2077
A Sequel Is Planned At Some Point
Despite the very rocky start to life forCyberpunk 2077,the level of effort CD Projekt Red put into the project to pull it back from the brink is impressive, to say the very least. The game was always going to be a success in terms of sales numbers, thanks to the obscene hype that it managed to generate, but with all the work done to it, it has left the fan base wanting more. Thankfully,CDPR knows this and aren’t done with the franchise yet. It is just focusing onThe Witcherfor the time being.
CD Projekt Red has announced a sequel toCyberpunk 2077is in the worksand has a new Boston studio opening soon just to work on said sequel. Unfortunately, with most of CDPR’s resources allocated toProject Polaris,and all the issues around opening a new studio, this sequel might be closer to 2030 than now. Still, at least more will be done with theCyberpunkIP after everything that has been pumped into it to keep it going, and the franchise will offer a stark contrast to the futureWitcherprojects.
CDPR has three studios in Poland, in the cities of Warsaw, Cracow, and Wrocław.
This is an exciting, if a little quiet, time to be a CD Projekt Red fan. A lot is being promised and in the works,with the developer expanding out of Poland and into Canada and the US. There are severalWitcherprojects promised, likeProject PolarisandThe Witcher 1remake, as well as aCyberpunksequel, but none of them is close to being done anytime soon. There’s a lot to look forward too, but not a lot to tide people over until then.
One Obvious Cyberpunk 2077 Storyline Would Be The Perfect Setup For The Sequel
Although there’s already been wild speculation on what the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel should look like, there’s one obvious choice from the first game.
The Long Wait Begins, But CDPR Will Make It Worth While
Cyberpunk And The Witcher Will Only Continue To Grow
Thankfully, bothThe Witcher 3andCyberpunk 2077,along with theirmassive expansions, are almost infinitely replayable and have enough content to kill the years of time until a new game is released.The Witcher 3even has a new modding toolkit (called REDkit), so there will be some new content going forward. It will just be community-made.Cyberpunkalso has a strong modding community, so if players are in desperate need of more content or a way to supercharge their game, there is always that option.
The REDkit modding tool forThe Witcher 3is similar toTheWitcher 2variant and greatly expands the game’s modding capabilities.
To help alleviate the wait,CD Projekt Red has done a brilliant job at ensuring that their two biggest games are in the best possible place going forward. Not only doesThe Witcher 3have the REDkit tool, but it also received a next-gen update to make the game look better than ever.Cyberpunk 2077has received a myriad of updates, has theEdgerunnersanime to re-watch, and enough story paths and builds to keep players occupied for the time being.
It will be a quiet time forCyberpunk 2077,but fans should be happy that it got the three and a half years of updates and tweaking that it had. CDPR could easily have left the game in its broken, launch state and moved on, but it has repaired both the title and its reputation to allow it to do more with the franchise going forward. It will be a long and painful wait, but with all the exciting projects that CDPR has promised its fans, the wait will hopefully be worth it.
