Cyberpunk 2077 will be continued with Project Orion. However, the release of the sequel will still be quite a while away – as CD Projekt Red has now let slip.
Cyberpunk 2077 will be continued. CD Projekt Red has already confirmed this. However, the sequel is not coming too soon. Because, as the developer studio has now let slip, the actual development will not begin until 2024 at the earliest. This means that Project Orion is likely to be quite a while in coming.
The next Cyberpunk is coming … but not too soon
This is the current timeline: In the latest (Financial Conference) CFO Piotr Nielubiwicz and CEO Adam Kicinski have commented on how the Cyberpunk brand will continue in the foreseeable future. The first and only story expansion for Cyberpunk 2077, Phantom Liberty, will be released in 2023, after which work on Project Orion will begin, but not the actual development.
As soon as Phantom Liberty has been released, its responsible developer team will split up: One part will dedicate itself to the next Witcher role-playing game with Projekt Polaris and will support the developers currently in charge of it. The rest will then start the concept phase for the next Cyberpunk.
According to Kicinski, the actual development will not start before 2024. This is not really surprising, CD Projekt Red has big plans for the Witcher franchise. The work on The Witcher 4 and Project Polaris respectively will be the focus after the release of Phantom Liberty, as the following graphic from the studio shows, for example:
CD Project Red Developer Breakdown
– Biggest staff working on the Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty Expansion
– Support staff for Cyberpunk 2077 continues to shrink as game gets more stable
– 2nd Most Devs on New Witcher Game
– “Project Sirius” Witcher staff steadily growing pic.twitter.com/x2qeOfvOlo– Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) November 28, 2022
What this reveals about the release: the next Cyberpunk will be a long time coming with this. If the actual development of Project Orion doesn”t start until 2024, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is definitely years away. After Phantom Liberty, the next Witcher will probably appear first.
At the same time, CD Projekt Red is already planning a complete new Witcher trilogy (and a remake of Part 1), which is to be released in a total period of six years. Whether this also stands in the way of the development or release of a new Cyberpunk remains to be seen. After all, CD Projekt Red has greatly expanded its development team in recent months and brought in reinforcements.
What”s next for Cyberpunk (2077)
This happened last: The release of the Edgerunners update 1.6 has paid off for CD Projekt Red – literally. But the latest changes and improvements also went down pretty well with player numbers and the mood in the community. Meanwhile, the developers have already let slip what future patches should bring.
This will happen in 2023: With Phantom Liberty, the big expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 will also be released sometime in 2023, for which even Keanu Reeves will return as Johnny Silverhand. What we know so far about the first and only story DLC can be found in our overview of (Phantom Liberty) – you can watch the official trailer as follows:
What else is happening: Meanwhile, the chances of a season 2 of the Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners are pretty slim. That”s because it was set to run for just one season from the start. Whether the groundbreaking success of Edgerunners will change that remains to be seen.
What would you like to see sooner: A new Witcher game or a new Cyberpunk? Let us know in the comments!
