While it got off to a rocky start, Cyberpunk 2077 has been elevated to the standards CD Projekt Red was aiming back in 2020 with the release of the game's 2.0 update. Because of that experience, the studio now hopes that the upcoming sequel will be a huge improvement, pulling a "The Witcher", and transforming Cyberpunk into a huge success.
In an interview with PC Gamer, narrative director at CD Projekt Igor Sarzyński mentions how the studio would like "a similar evolution" to the Witcher series for Cyberpunk. While some things seemed to work out of the box, Sarzyński says others required more work such as "character progression, NPC interactivity, and optimization. That’s natural; it’s impossible to nail everything on your first try."
The initial release of Cyberpunk 2077, while met with generally favourable reviews by critics, was indeed criticized by many players for the amount of bugs and issues. Among several problems, many mentioned combat as a major letdown, along with optimization problems on last-gen machines leading to random framerate drops and freezing issues.
After that difficult experience, Sarzyński mentions the studio has learned some difficult lessons. "Now with all the game elements iterated and working well, we’ll focus on connecting them even tighter and creating a coherent, total immersion experience," he explains.
A major aspect that the studio seems to want to focus on is definitely NPC interactivity. While the 2.0 patch for Cyberpunk 2077 headed in the direction that the studio would like to move towards, there is still work to be done to make the city feel like a real, living and breathing place.
Paweł Sasko, quest director for Cyberpunk 2077, also recently mentioned - in a Q&A session with investors - having "no regrets" about making the game first person. While no decision has been made on the sequel yet, Sasko mentioned the third-person view for The Witcher, while commenting on how, for Cyberpunk, they were aiming for something different.
If, much like Sarzyński says, the studio has been taking notes and learning from its failures, we are sure in for something special when the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 hits shelves.