CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is now one of the most beloved games of the last generation, but there’s always been a heavy fan sentiment that the game’s opening should’ve been longer.
Act 1 of CDPR’s Cyberpunk 2077 tasks the player character, V, and best friend Jackie with stealing “the relic”, which contains the engram of Johnny Silverhand, from Arasaka which leads to Jackie’s unfortunate death.
For fans, many believe that the game’s introduction should’ve been significantly longer to give players the change to truly bond with Jackie. However, Cyberpunk 2 director Igor Sarzynski believes that extending the game’s introduction would have been a poor decision.
“So would extending Act 1 (before the heist) in CP77 make the game better?” the sequel’s creative director asked on BlueSky. “No it wouldn’t. It’s like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff.”
Sarzynski explained that some players already manage to get around 20 hours of content out of the game’s introduction with players able to “pick your own page”. However, the introduction’s vague stakes before V’s life-altering merger with Johnny Silverhand makes it a story point that needs to be crossed.
“The motivation/goal in this section of the game is pretty vague – ‘get to the top’ – which, prolonged and without stakes or pressure would result in meandering, unfocused experience,” they continued. “Is it enough time to bond with Jackie? For some it is, for some it isn’t. All things considered i think we struck a good balance.”
One of the common sentiments about the game’s introduction is that the game’s early montage of events that V and Jackie get up to are some form of cut content. However, Sarzynski explained that is not the case.
“No, [the] half-year montage is not cut content,” the Cyberpunk 2 director confirmed. “We always planned it like this.”
At the time of writing, very little is known about the direction for Cyberpunk 2. Following 2077, it is known that the game will take players back to Night City, but the new game will also introduce a new city that’s been described as “Chicago gone wrong” by the tabletop game’s creator Mike Pondersmith.
Additionally, CD Projekt Red has confirmed that a multiplayer mode is in development for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. The first game also had a multiplayer component in development, but this was cut due to the abysmal launch state of the RPG.
CDPR is also working on a brand-new trilogy of Witcher titles alongside a remake of the original game. The Witcher 4 is currently targeting a 2027 release with the entire trilogy planned to launch across six years if development continues smoothly.