CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Project Orion, is a carefully guarded secret, however that hasn’t stopped Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith from teasing some beforehand unknown particulars.
Pondsmith, who labored carefully with CD Projekt on the 30 million-selling Cyberpunk 2077 and was concerned in selling the sport forward of its 2020 launch, was requested in regards to the scope of his involvement with Project Orion at the Digital Dragons 2025 conference.
Responding, Pondsmith admitted he wasn’t as concerned this time round, however he does overview scripts and had been to CD Projekt to take a look at the continued work.
“Final week I used to be wandering round speaking to totally different departments, and seeing what they’d, ‘Oh look, that is the brand new cyberware, what do you assume?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s fairly good, that works right here.’ “
After which, the morsel of element on the sequel: that it includes a model new metropolis along with the Night City we all know from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this new metropolis as “like Chicago gone incorrect.”
“I spent lots of time speaking to one of many surroundings guys, and he was explaining how the brand new place in Orion, as a result of there’s one other metropolis we go to — I’m not telling you any greater than that however there’s one other metropolis we go to. And Night City continues to be there. However I bear in mind taking a look at it and going, yeah I perceive the texture you’re going for this, and this actually does work. And it doesn’t really feel like Blade Runner, it feels extra like Chicago gone incorrect. I mentioned, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.”
It’s value mentioning right here that Pondsmith’s feedback don’t essentially recommend the Cyberpunk sequel will characteristic a future Chicago, moderately a metropolis that has the texture of a dystopian model of town. It might be a tackle future Chicago, however that isn’t confirmed primarily based on these feedback.
There may be additionally already some debate about whether or not the Cyberpunk sequel will broaden upon the Night City that’s in Cyberpunk 2077 or characteristic a brand new model, and the extent to which it’s playable. There are lots of unknowns, however it seems like there could also be two fleshed out playable cities on this sequel.
Whereas CD Projekt’s focus proper now could be The Witcher 4, it has a brand new studio arrange in Boston to work on Project Orion. Earlier this yr, CD Projekt mentioned 84 of its 707 employees had been engaged on Project Orion, which continues to be within the idea section. A lot can change, and we’re not anticipating the sport for a while.
There’s additionally a brand new Cyberpunk animation venture on Netflix following the well-received Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Within the shorter time period, Cyberpunk 2077 is about to launch on Nintendo Change 2.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.