CD Projekt Red has big, Witcher-like hopes for Cyberpunk 2077 2

Cyberpunk 2077 2 is in development, and CD Projekt Red has high, Witcher 3-shaped hopes for the action game. Narrative director Igor Sarzyński told PC Gamer the team wants the next Cyberpunk game to push the boundaries of the studio’s storytelling.

“Consider The Witcher games and how much they changed with each installment, Sarzyński said. “We want a similar evolution here.”

The Witcher 3 introduced a bold narrative choice that you don’t typically see in open-world games by splitting the story between Geralt’s viewpoint and Ciri’s. That scale, combined with the world itself and the numerous deep side stories for players to uncover, played a significant role in raising the genre’s standards – and expectations from CDPR.

The studio promised a big leap forward with Cyberpunk 2077 when it launched in 2020, but even aside from the bugs and other issues that plagued it at the time, Sarzyński says he recognizes the team didn’t quite pull it off.

“Cyberpunk 2077 was our first venture into a futuristic sci-fi world with a ton of new gameplay mechanics, narrative tone, themes, and art direction,” Sarzyński said. “Some of the stuff worked almost right out of the box, such as the art, city design, music, interactive scene system, playstyles. Other aspects took more time to get right, like character progression, NPC interactivity, and optimization. That’s natural; it’s impossible to nail everything on your first try.”

Sarzyński says the team has a better idea of how to make a more immersive world now, though, and is working hard to make a stronger experience.

CDPR is also working on several other projects, including a ground-up remake of The Witcher and a new entry in the series, so even with a new studio, it’s no surprise that Cyberpunk 2077 2 doesn’t have a vague release window yet.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF