Cyberpunk 2 Will “Push the Boundaries” of Dystopian Setting
Cyberpunk 2077 (and especially its expansion) did a good job of capturing the rich and dense cyberpunk setting, but some could argue that developer CD Projekt RED may not have gone as far with the game’s depth and nuance as they could have, given the sheer density that the cyberpunk genre as a whole tends to represent.
Members of the game’s development team actually agree to some extent and say they want to see significant improvements in this area with the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, which is in early pre-production at CD Projekt RED’s newly opened North American division.
Speaking on a recent episode of CDPR’s AnswerRed podcast, deputy game director Pawel Sasko touched on how Cyberpunk 2077 “didn’t push the boundaries enough” in its social commentary, citing the “homelessness crisis” as an example.
Cyberpunk 2 Will “Push the Boundaries” of Dystopian Setting
I see that we haven’t pushed the boundaries enough in some places. For example, take the homelessness crisis… We thought we had created a dystopia, but we have only scratched the surface.
Project Orion (codenamed Cyberpunk 2077) executive producer Dan Herrnberg added that the cyberpunk setting allows CD Projekt RED to draw parallels with the real world, and that the next Cyberpunk game will continue to “explore those themes, but in a very edgy way.”
I think what’s really cool about Cyberpunk, and its dystopian future, is that there’s so much that’s relevant to today: megacorporations, people on the fringes of society, people as exploitable resources, the wealth gap, all of that. I think 2077 allowed us to tell stories in a way that always has relationships and people at the heart of them, but we’re in a really broken world, and we can address some of those things.
I think for me, Cyberpunk is about exploring those themes, but in a really edgy way. I love that world, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do with Project Orion. Really continue to dig in and continue to say, “This is what the world is like today, but what’s it going to be like in a couple of years?”
Last October, CD Projekt announced that Cyberpunk 2 was in the “concept design” stage. The next big title the company is focusing on is The Witcher 4, which will soon enter full production. So you shouldn’t expect a Cyberpunk sequel in the next 5 years.
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