With the vast majority of CD Projekt RED’s work on Cyberpunk 2077 having wrapped up after Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, the developer has now entered phase where it’s started looking ahead to the next game in the franchise, codenamed Project Orion. It is, however, currently in the very early stages of development, which means there will be plenty of key aspects of the game that even the development team will not have concretely nailed down just yet.
One of those things, interestingly enough, seems to be whether or not Cyberpunk 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) will be played from a first-person perspective, similar to its predecessor.
Speaking during CD Projekt’s recent investor day presentation, Cyberpunk 2077 quest director Paweł Sasko touched on the topic of the game’s choice to go with a first-person perspective, and said that that’s not something CDPR regrets. According to Sasko, the first-person perspective is “the main characteristic for Cyberpunk“, and one that, among other things, helps differentiate it from the developer’s other major property, The Witcher– which, of course, has always been a third-person experience.
“There are no regrets on our part,” Saski said (transcription via IGN). “What we wanted was for Cyberpunk to have its own identity and to be noticeable as this different thing. These days it’s YouTube, Twitch, and screenshots that sell games, and this is the way one can use to show that identity and individuality to players.
“I wanted to say that the first-person perspective is the main characteristic for Cyberpunk and its perception by the players too. It’s also noticeably different from The Witcher, and this helped us craft the product identity as such.”
Interestingly enough, however, Sasko went on to add that whether or not Cyberpunk 2 will also have a first-person perspective is something that CD Projekt RED has yet to decide. He said: “But for Orion we’re yet to see.”
Cyberpunk 2 will be is being developed by CD Projekt RED’s newly-established North American wing, and once it enters full production, it’s expected to have development team of about 350-500 people.
CD Projekt RED has announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 25 million units worldwide. Meanwhile, Phantom Liberty sold over 3 million units in its first week.