Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Won’t Start Pre-Production Until After 2023

Just in case you were holding out hope that the wait for Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel would be easier than that of the original, or even that developers CD Projekt Red had begun work on it – there’s some bad news. Not only have CDPR not started work on the sequel, but CEO Adam Kicinski doesn’t even know if they will begin pre-production until after next year.

Speaking at their latest financial call, the developers confirmed that the popularity of the Netflix anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners, combined with the recent Patch 1.6 (or Edgerunners patch), considerably renewed popularity in the series and led to a boom in player count. Because of this, they are hopeful for the series’ future.

Edgerunners did a lot to rejuvenate interest in the series and give CDPR the confidence to go ahead with a sequel.

Speaking about what that future might look like, the developers reiterated the fact that Cyberpunk 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty will be a paid expansion, and that it would be a big expansion. Even comparable in size to The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine DLC (although due to budgets and changes in the market, the advertising campaign would be much smaller).

They also said that work on Project Orion – Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel – would not start until all work had been finished on Phantom Liberty. Given that it is slated to release sometime in the first half of 2023, and will likely receive updates and patches for a couple of months after launch, it would be generous to suggest much work will be completed on Orion before the year is out. And much of that work would be, as Adam Kicinski points out, in the “conceptual phase”. This is the stage prior to pre-production where the look and tone of the game will start to take shape.

Interestingly, it was also pointed out that work on Orion – at least at this stage of production – would be helmed by CDPR’s new Boston studio.

Production Also Begins on The Witcher Sequels

Later down the line, the developers at CDPR went on to confirm that The Witcher Remake, as well as the new Witcher trilogy, were still on track. Although, they did confirm that The Witcher Remake would not release until after The Witcher 4, as it will be built using the same technology. Official release dates for both games have not been confirmed.

So it seems, fans of both Cyberpunk and The Witcher will have to remain patient. Here’s hoping CDPR have learnt from their mistakes when it came to Cyberpunk 2077’s hype and release.