Cyberpunk 2's game director says the sequel's vision is evolving as the team grows

Cyberpunk 2's game director has shared new details about the sequel, explaining in a CD Projekt Red blog post that the game's original vision is evolving as more developers contribute to it. There's also news on the live action Cyberpunk movie, plus my hopes for one last Cyberpunk 2077 update tied to Edgerunners 2.

I've seen all 10 episodes of Edgerunners 2, and I'm hoping for one more Cyberpunk 2077 update

Edgerunners 2 officially arrives on Netflix on October 20th, and yes, I've seen all 10 episodes. I can't get into any of the details. Having early access to the anime also doesn't mean I have insider information. Straight up, they didn't tell me anything, so I don't personally know whether a Cyberpunk 2077 update is coming alongside it. Is it a possibility? Sure. Is it going to happen? I have no idea. This is me coping a little.

Back in 2022, CD Projekt Red released the Edgerunners update ahead of the original anime. That update included content connected to the show, including various things you could get in Cyberpunk and gigs you could discover in Night City. So there's at least a precedent for bringing the game and the anime a bit closer together. The Edgerunners update also released at a perfect time. The success of that anime brought so much success to the game that I find it hard to believe CD Projekt Red didn't plan something for this one as well.

That doesn't automatically mean history is going to repeat itself. A previous collab tells us what the studio has done before. It doesn't confirm that they've planned ahead this time. But looking at things through the lens of a fan, which I am, I'd love another reason to jump back into 2077 around the new series. After watching all 10 episodes, I'm going to do a replay anyway. I'm in the middle of The Witcher 3 remastered, and we all know how long that takes to beat. I need to get back into the streets and get my chrome fix.

An update wouldn't necessarily need to be enormous. CD Projekt Red is going to do what it does, but even a simple cosmetic or something that connects the story you've just watched with the world you can explore would be enough, I think. Are we going to get an update for Cyberpunk 2077? Who knows. I'd love to see it happen, but only time will tell.

Cyberpunk 2's direction is evolving as the Boston studio grows

In a new CD Projekt Red blog post, the game director explains that the original vision is evolving as more developers contribute. His description is of a project increasingly shaped by the people making it, and that's the central update here. The creative direction is developing as developers get hired on at the Boston studio, and as that studio continues to bring in more people, the direction will continue to evolve. I guess you could say that's par for the course. We're talking about development, so obviously the creative direction is going to change.

For me, the interesting question is what that could mean for the finished experience. When I picture a Cyberpunk sequel, I already have certain expectations: more cyberware, dangerous jobs, more memorable characters, maybe some callbacks to the past depending on whether this is a direct sequel, and another world I'll spend far too much time wandering around. But I also want the developers to really surprise me. I don't want my expectations to become a checklist that limits the possibilities. Some of my favorite moments in games are things I would never have thought to request.

That's one of the reasons I love Nintendo so much: they're constantly innovating. It seems like with every new Legend of Zelda game, they're doing something so far beyond my imagination that it blows my mind. Going from Skyward Sword to Breath of the Wild and into Tears of the Kingdom, seeing that progression, the stuff added and the creativity, is incredible. I want CD Projekt Red to do the same thing, whether that's an unusual mission structure, or a cyberware feature or netrunner feature that goes so far beyond my expectations it blows my mind.

I think the distinction really matters, because a vision that's constantly evolving doesn't automatically mean bigger or better, like a larger map, 16 times the detail, twice as many features, or a complete change in direction. It just means we shouldn't pretend we already know exactly what the finished game is going to look like. How could we? If you'd told me to picture what Cyberpunk 2077 would look like just from the 2013 teaser trailer, I would have told you that you were a madman.

Night City reportedly stays, alongside a place that feels like "Chicago gone wrong"

That leads to one of the most interesting questions surrounding the sequel: where are we going? You've probably seen the discussion about Chicago, with the quote about "Chicago gone wrong." You might also have seen claims that Cyberpunk 2 is leaving Night City entirely. But Mike Pondsmith, while discussing another city we would visit in the sequel, also said that Night City was still there. He compared the feel of the other location to Chicago gone wrong. So all the reporting we've heard points to Night City and another city.

The Chicago comparison doesn't necessarily establish an entirely new location, or that the location is called Chicago. It also doesn't tell us how much of the game actually takes place there. Personally, I think keeping Night City while exploring somewhere different sounds like a good direction. Night City has so much personality that I feel you really shouldn't leave it behind entirely. A different story could make the streets we've seen before feel different, especially if we experience them through the eyes of somebody with a completely different life.

I'd also love to see what exists beyond it. What does corporate power look like somewhere else? What do people there think of Night City? What opportunities could take someone to a place like that, and what would make somebody desperate enough to want to leave? I'd love the new location to kind of change how we understand the universe, with its own atmosphere, its own people and its own pressures. For me, that matters more than simply having two enormous cities to explore.

Just because we might visit a new city, which allegedly we are, doesn't mean there will be two equally sized open worlds. We don't know if we'll be there the entire time. It could be like The Witcher 3, where you have the continent but also different locations you can travel to, each with their own giant open world areas.

The game director sees cyberpunk through the extremes of dehumanization

The game director also described his perspective on cyberpunk through the extremes of dehumanization, which he said is his understanding of the genre. So rather than a newly revealed synopsis for Cyberpunk 2, that's his view of cyberpunk in general. Still, I personally think it's a really good starting point for thinking about what the story could explore.

For me, the setting becomes most compelling when people are treated like products. Their bodies can be upgraded with new chrome, their work can be exploited, and their value can be reduced to how useful they are to somebody in a powerful position. The technology makes all of that visible, but the consequences are what give it weight. Of course I want to see over the top cyberware, and moments where my character can do something ridiculous. But with dehumanization as one of the central themes, I want to see what that power costs, explored through the story, the missions and even the characters.

Cyberpunk 2 doesn't need to be bigger, just look at Phantom Liberty

That's also why I've been trying to keep my expectations focused on the experience rather than the scale. Just because it has a 2 at the end doesn't mean it needs to be bigger or have twice the detail. Look at what they achieved with Phantom Liberty. That was an incredible expansion: a tight experience, focused on the experience itself, and that's one of the reasons I loved it so much.

As much as I want Cyberpunk 2 to be an ambitious game that comes together strong at launch, I'd rather they focus on getting it right, with a contained experience that doesn't have to be super long or super big. As long as it's a good contained experience that's replayable, I think that's a good thing. A smaller idea that's developed properly and polished can make a much bigger impression than a spectacular feature that never quite fits.

The live action Cyberpunk movie will tell a new story rather than adapt the game

On the other side of the Cyberpunk universe, there are updates on the live action Cyberpunk movie, and this detail makes it way more interesting to me. Paramount is developing the film, and CD Projekt Red's co-CEO has explained that the intention is to tell a story in the Cyberpunk world rather than retrace the steps of the game's story. So if you were expecting a direct adaptation, that's wrong. We're getting something set in the Cyberpunk universe instead.

Personally, I prefer that. I love that they can tell a new story in the universe rather than retell something the game already did effectively. It's one of the reasons I loved Resident Evil so much. People hated on that movie, but I thought it was a great Resident Evil. It didn't tell the story of Leon or anything like that, but it did tell a story in the setting of Resident Evil, and I thought that was good.

I want them to look at what Edgerunners did right and tell a story that understands why the world matters to people. If they get that right, a new story could give us another perspective on the entire setting, which is honestly exciting.

Would you rather have a much deeper Night City or a completely new setting in Cyberpunk 2?