Speaking during CD Projekt’s recent quarterly earnings Q&A, co-CEO Michał Nowakowski stated that the live action Cyberpunk project is making good progress, but is still in the conceptual stages of development. Though the project isn’t yet at a stage where it can be shopped around to streaming platforms or studios, Nowakowski says next year is probably when CD Projekt will begin that process.

“I mean, the conceptual stage has various stages of advancement, so we’re for sure further in than we were a year ago, but we’re also not yet at the stage where we would be shopping around the concept to potential streamers or studios,” he said (transcription via VGC). I’d say it’s probably a similar window between here and now as was between when we announced it about a year ago and today, so within that window I would expect we’re going to get to shopping [it] around.”

In addition to a live action project, as announced in September, CD Projekt is also working with Netflix on another animated Cyberpunk series.

The company has also announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold over 30 million units worldwide, while Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty stands at 8 million units sold.

Now, that has been officially announced. Netflix and CD Projekt RED have announced that they are working together on another animated show set in the Cyberpunk universe. The brief teaser gives nothing away beyond confirming a return to Night City, while the video’s YouTube description also adds that more details will be shared “soon”. 

Whether or not this new animated show is being worked on by Studio Trigger – the studio that worked on the aforementioned Edgerunners – hasn’t been confirmed, though last year, the developer did suggest that it had more projects planned with the team. 

Last October, CD Projekt RED also announced that it had partnered with entertainment company Anonymous Content to work on a live action Cyberpunk project. Read more on that through here.

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’ Lucy is also set to be added to Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear Strive as a DLC guest character next year. 

Last year, for instance, we got Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a widely praised anime developed by Studio Trigger in collaboration with CD Projekt RED, and it seems the two companies are collaborating on another project- though details on it are next to non-existent right now.

Speaking during a recent investor presentation, when asked about how CD Projekt RED is planning on further expanding the Cyberpunk franchise beyond games, chief commercial officer Michał Nowakowski pointed to the recently-confirmed live action project being made in collaboration with Anonymous Content, before suggesting that other similar collaborations are in the works that can’t be officially announced just yet.

“Yes, we do have plans,” he said (transcription via VGC). “That’s why we have started cooperating with Anonymous Content. We want things to happen.

“Alot is happening, a lot is planned. Trigger was in 2018 but [Edgerunners] started in 2022, so for a number of years we did not speak about this because it wasn’t ready. There are plans we’d rather keep quiet until there is something to speak about, until there is really something to discuss, some concreate announcement.

“When the time comes, we’ll tell you. I know I keep repeating it, but yes, the general direction is this – to go this way, this is strategically important for us.”

Meanwhile, chief creative officer Adam Badowski added that CD Projekt is complying with rules regarding official announcement in place at the partners it’s working with- which, in this case, is Studio Trigger again.

“What’s also important is that Trigger, our partner, has certain rules for announcing projects and we have to be compliant with this,” he said.

What exactly CDPR and Studio Trigger are working on together remains to be seen, but it’s unlikely to be a direct follow-up to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, with CDPR having suggested as much in the past.

Meanwhile, the company has also confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold over 25 million units worldwide, while Phantom Liberty sold over 3 million units in its first week. Cyberpunk 2, currently codenamed Project Orion, has also entered the early stages of production.

CD Projekt RED has announced that it has partnered with the global entertainment company Anonymous Content to work on a live action project set in the Cyberpunk universe. Details on the project are scant right now – we don’t even know if it’ll be a show or a movie – but CDPR says it’s currently in the early stages of development.

Weve already seen one adaptation of Cyberpunk so far with last year’s excellent Netflix anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, after the success of which CD Projekt RED said it wanted to keep investing in more transmedia projects. The company has also said that it’s working on another project with the studio behind Edgerunners, Studio Trigger, but that it doesn’t have anything concrete to announce on that front yet.

Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 25 million units worldwide, while the recently-released Phantom Liberty managed to sell over 3 million units in its first week. Early development on a full-fledged sequel is also underway.

CD PROJEKT RED Partners With Anonymous Content to Develop Live-Action Project pic.twitter.com/O6MLGqBo2B

— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) October 5, 2023

It’s no surprise, then, that the company wants to keep doing more of the same. As revealed by CD Projekt’s SVP of business development Michał Nowakowski in a recent quarterly earnings call (via VGC), the company is interesting in pursuing more projects in the transmedia project. That said, as previously confirmed, there are no current plans for a second season of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. 

“We are not confirming any specific plans [for a] second season of Edgerunners or anything super specifically,” Nowakowski said. “[But] we have an appetite to do more in the transmedia [space], so in linear visual animation or live action, and those plans have not changed, so when we are ready you may expect to see more announcements in that regard coming from us.”

What these transmedia projects will turn out to be remains to be seen, but with the success that both The Witcher and Cyberpunk have seen with adaptations, it’s likely that similar future projects will be a big focal point for CD Projekt going forward. The company recently confirmed that it’s also working on its own original new IP (for the first time in CDPR history)- it should be interesting to see whether offshoot transmedia projects will be part of the plan for that property’s expansion… though clearly that’s still way, way off in the future.

It doesn’t look like that’s part of the plans just yet. Speaking in a recent interview with Famitsu (via VGC), CD Projekt RED Japan’s country manager Satoru Honma said that while he personally would like to work on a second season of the anime, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was designed as a standalone story, which means that for now, there are no plans in place for a follow-up.

“I personally would like to continue to work with Japanese studios to produce more anime in the future, partly because we have received very good feedback,” he said. “However, just to be clear, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was planned as a standalone work, so there’s no such thing as ‘we are actually working on Season 2 in the background.'”

Honma also suggested that if another season of the anime were to be made, it might not necessarily be a continuation of the first, and could end up being a completely separate thing.

“Even if we could make more anime in the future, I don’t know if it would be Season 2 or something completely different,” he said.

Of course, there’s plenty more Cyberpunk content coming up for series fans to look forward to. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will launch next year for PC and current-gen consoles, while a sequel will also enter development, with CD Projekt RED’s North American wing taking the reins for the project.

Yes, Cyberpunk’s release was almost two years ago now, and yes, the devs at CDPR have worked immensely hard to build a solid game on top of shaky foundations. But moulding a title to represent what was promised a decade ago doesn’t relieve CDPR of their operational failings. They’re not out of the woods yet.

And, perhaps from a cynical standpoint, this latest strategic update does little to dissuade those who’re concerned CDPR have not learned from past mistakes. Remember, Cyberpunk 2077 was first unveiled in May 2012, a full eight and a half years before release. Once again, CDPR are announcing games so far into the future they’re likely being made using tech that hasn’t been invented yet, no less with a team that understands how to use it. And what’s worse, they’re going to be working on multiple games simultaneously, breaking away from their long-time policy of working on only one major title at a time.

Now, it’s not all doom and gloom as the ghouls of CDPR’s recent history can’t be fairly compared to their plans going forward. For starters, as outlined in the strategic update, the company is aggressively expanding. In addition to their three Polish hubs, there’s the recently unveiled CD Projekt Red Vancouver in Canada plus a freshly acquired location in Boston Massachusetts. Development of their upcoming titles will be split between their auxiliary studios, which in theory should spread the strain of intricate and lengthy development cycles. They’re also set to work with an external studio too, which is another potential spanner in the works.

And what are the games that’ve been announced? Well, the first is a new Witcher game, a follow up to 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with two full-on sequels to follow that’ll form a new trilogy. This trio is expected to release within a six-year window, with two additional Witcher spinoffs that’ll be handled by CD Projekt’s newly acquired Boston outfit The Molasses Flood, a studio CDPR reassuringly proclaim as headed by experienced developers who’ve worked on past Witcher games.

Following all this gluttonous Witcher content will be a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, a game CDPR state as taking “the Cyberpunk franchise further” and that it’ll “continue harnessing the potential of this dark future universe.” To be clear, Cyberpunk’s sequel is in the far-flung future, releasing after The Witcher’s next trilogy. Following that will be a brand-new IP codenamed “Hadar”, CDPR’s most distant prospect which they say is still in its early conceptual phase. Before any of this new content gathers momentum though, there’s still CDPR’s commitment to successfully delivering a current-gen version of The Witcher 3 plus 2023’s Cyberpunk 2077 expansion the Phantom Liberty.

CD Projekt Red’s ambitious plans are sound in principle. Leaning heavily on their former glories by reigniting The Witcher series whilst fostering its rising Cyberpunk 2077 community and announcing something brand new seems a solid three-pronged foundation which the company can rebuild its reputation on. It’s certainly a strategy that’ll appease shareholders, with CDPR undoubtably hoping to increase their market value by impressing investors previously rattled by Cyberpunk 2077’s disastrously buggy 2020 launch.

Truth is, as a company CD Projekt are in a fantastic place, financially speaking. Last year, the company turned over close to $230 million. Cyberpunk 2077 has recently surpassed 20 million players, with more than 100,000 concurrent players recorded on Steam in September just gone – a number surpassing The Witcher 3’s all-time high. With the success of Netflix anime tie-in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners surely bolstering players further, the sky’s seemingly the limit for CDPR. If they’re looking to draw in new investment, now’s the perfect time. Their bulbous strategic update – which, it must be said, was filled with so much stuff – certainly glosses over their former failings; they describe their intent to harness new tech, adopt Unreal Engine 5, and offer glimpses into a blossoming corporate culture buoyed by upwards marketing projections and shiny new premises – it’s all very exciting for those who’ve money they’re looking to invest.

However, it all feels as though CDPR are trying to force the narrative onwards, to push it beyond Cyberpunk 2077’s failings and as discerning consumers, we must push back.

For players, they just want an answer to one simple question: will the next title be an unplayable bug-infested mess? How The Witcher 3’s PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions and Cyberpunk’s DLC fair will be CDPR’s first true opportunity to demonstrate they’re a rejuvenated outfit. The success of their next release is crucial if they wish to reclaim the trust of those players severely burned after Cyberpunk 2077. Looking at the corporate aesthetic of their messaging, it’s quite clear it’s not directed at the end user, at the player (that is, unless any players are after a job at CDPR, as its clearly not just a corporate strategy update, but full-on recruitment driver too).

It’s worth stressing the corporate nature of CDPR’s messaging comes from the top, as does their strategic direction, and with it, any failures. Those at the bottom rung of the corporate ladder are not to blame for any game’s that’re released in unfit state. However, there’s been a mass exodus at the top of CD Projekt Red’s organisational structure following Cyberpunk 2077’s devastating launch. Game directors, lead designers, production directors, they’ve all gone on to pastures new. Co-founder and joint CEO Marcin Iwiński has just announced he’s stepping down from his leadership role after 30 years at the helm too. Perhaps, with new blood in CDPR’s crucial leadership positions, their immensely ambitious 10-year plan has opportunity to succeed.

Iwiński will stay on as senior shareholder, with a place on the board of directors, so his sway will still influence CDPR’s movements going forward. But admittedly, these are all steps in the right direction for CD Projekt Red. Right now, it seems like every action they take is simply to garner more financial interest (or maybe generate enough interest to suit a potential buyer, who knows?!) But, if their corporate messaging attracts a boatload of passionate developers to an international company which genuinely looks to be putting the effort into reshaping its culture, then there’s no reason why CDPR can’t simultaneously manage and successfully release solid title after solid title throughout the coming decade.

As ever, the proof is in the pudding. The Witcher 3’s upcoming current-gen version and Cyberpunk 2077’s the Phantom Liberty expansion simply must go well. CDPR’s story-driven games evidently resonate with a lot of people, and sure, there’re plenty of players – 20 million, in fact – who’re happy with where Cyberpunk is right now. However, for those still on the fence, CDPR have a real opportunity to rise from the ashes and regain their trust.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The developer, to its credit, seems to have taken steps to ensure exactly that. CD Projekt has said that as part of its new development strategy, it will be testing all of its future titles on all the platforms they’re releasing for, rather than just PC.

“We test gameplay quality on every platform from the get-go, and do not focus only on the developers’ PC build,” the developer said (via PlayStation Lifestyle). “Of course, this makes early stages of the creation process a bit more tedious, but it also gives us greater control and confidence at later stages.”

Of course, one of the biggest problems Cyberpunk 2077 faced during its development (of which there was no shortage) was the fact that CD Projekt RED largely tested the game on PC- which, as we all know, led to a severely compromised and bugged launch for the game on last-gen platforms.

Of course, talk is cheap and all that, but it is at least assuring to see the developer explicitly talking about how it’s planning to improve its pipeline to address some pretty major issues.

CD Projekt recently announced in an investors call that going forward, “most” of its future releases will also feature multiplayer, which will “enrich the single player experience” of those titles. Of course, details on what shape and form these multiplayer elements will take are scant, but it seems like single player is very much going to continue to be the focus, with some additive multiplayer elements being added in as a bonus.

Earlier this year, the Polish company confirmed that with its switch to Unreal Engine 5, it was no longer developing internal multiplayer tech, since Epic Games’ engine already offers “advanced multiplayer solutions”.

CD Projekt has also announced a number of new projects, including a full new trilogy of The Witcher games, two additional major spinoffs in the franchise, a full-fledged Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and a new internal IP.

pic.twitter.com/a87NWyGsYi

— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) October 4, 2022

In fact, the developer has started working on two new AAA games simultaneously. CD Projekt recently published its fiscal report for the first half of 2022, in which CEO Adam Kiciński confirmed the same. “We are revisiting a world which is an integral part of CD PROJEKT’s history,” he wrote. “Thus, as announced last year, CD PROJEKT RED has begun parallel work on two AAA projects.”

One of these projects is, of course, the next instalment in The Witcher series, which was confirmed to be in early development early this year. There’s no mention of what the second project is, but one would assume that work has begun on the next mainline Cyberpunk game. For what it’s worth, last year, Kiciński confirmed that in 2022, CD Projekt RED would begin developing new projects in the studio’s owned IPs– and the two IPs owned by CD Projekt are The Witcher and Cyberpunk.

While it’s unlikely that we’ll be getting any concrete details on either of the two projects anytime soon, we do have something coming from CD Projekt RED in the near future nonetheless. As mentioned earlier, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty will launch sometime next year for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Stadia.

Meanwhile, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of The Witcher 3 are also in the works, and still due out in 2022.