Phantom Liberty was released last month for Cyberpunk 2077, marking the first and final paid expansion for CD Projekt’s FPS/RPG. It was a huge success, with three million sold in the first week and extensive critical acclaim, capping off a strong comeback story for the developer after a controversial launch.
However, considering the story of Phantom Liberty and how it ends, one has to wonder whether the developer thought of continuing any of the base game’s endings. Spoilers for Phantom Liberty’s ending follow, so be warned.
PC Gamer spoke to narrative director Igor Sarzyński about the same. “We did consider a couple of other scenarios. But none of them were a continuation of the main game story. The endings are too diverse to have a single post-main story thread make sense for them all – and you don’t want to pick one and invalidate other people’s choices.”
Of course, it’s about more than just accounting for player’s choices. “The endings are written as we wanted them – leaving players with an uneasy feeling, forcing them to think, not providing straight answers. They stick with you. No need to water them down. Sometimes less is more.”
As for the new ending that the expansion added, it also channels some uneasiness and may be considered one of the heaviest conclusions of V’s story. Sarzyński says, “We always knew we wanted to add an ending in which V gets the cure and survives. But the cost of it had to be huge.” A sequel, Project Orion, is in development, so it should be interesting to see where players go next.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out our review here.
